LITTLE ROCK — Long before the SEC media vote was announced, the only predictions in doubt involved what are best described as down ballot contests, prompting a no-risk tweet early Friday that Alabama and Auburn would be one-two in the West and that Georgia would be an overwhelming choice in the East.
Wondering about the vote involved only what team would be perceived second best in the East and whether Arkansas or Ole Miss would be considered the worst in the SEC West.
Alabama over Georgia in the SEC title game was a given, although the vote was bound to be closer than last year when Alabama received 217 of the 243 first-place votes and Auburn was second with 11. On Friday, the final tally was Alabama with 193 first-place votes and Georgia with 69.
Last year, in the strictest sense, the media missed picking the SEC champion for the 19th time since Arkansas and South Carolina joined the league in 1992, but was dead on identifying the best team in the SEC. Alabama, the preseason pick, missed out on the conference title game, but beat conference champion Georgia in the national championship contest.
At the top, the media is in agreement with the pros that make the line in Nevada. According to Bovada.lv, Alabama is less than even money — bet $7 to make a $5 profit — to win in Atlanta while Georgia is slightly better than 3-to-1 and Auburn is third choice at more than 8-to-1.
Surprisingly, Mississippi State is next at 15-to-1, followed by Florida at 18-to-1. The Bulldogs being a shorter price that LSU or Texas A&M, both 25-to-1, is based on a healthy Nick Fitzgerald performing like an all-conference quarterback and a highly touted defense. The Gators being next in the odds is a vote of confidence in new coach Dan Mullen, who built this year’s roster at Mississippi State.
In the West, Ole Miss finished comfortably ahead of Arkansas in the contest for sixth place.
Anticipating such a forecast, Arkansas coach Chad Morris told the media early in the week that whether the Razorbacks were picked to finish first or last “is irrelevant at this point in time” and referenced expectations of the coaches and players.
A total of 284 votes were cast in the West, points were awarded 7-6-5-4-3-2-1, and Arkansas totaled 412 so it is doubtful the Razorbacks received anything more than an occasional fourth or fifth. However, Arkansas fans can find encouragement in the fact that the same media picked the Razorbacks to finish fourth last year and also voted for Florida No. 2 and Tennessee No. 3 in the East, and that those three teams were 4-20 in the league.
This year, the media bucked Nevada and picked South Carolina second in the East, followed by Florida and Missouri. South Carolina is 33-to-1 to win the SEC.
Arkansas (80-1), Kentucky (100-1), and Vanderbilt (150-1), are the longest shots to prevail in Atlanta. Because of sanctions, there are no odds on Ole Miss.
The folks that make a living putting together a line are so proficient identifying the preseason favorites that Georgia winning at 6-to-1 was the biggest price among the Power Five conference champions. Big Ten conference winner Ohio State, Big 12 champion Oklahoma and Pac-12 champion USC were heavily favored, and Atlantic Conference champion Clemson was the 3-1 second choice.
In the lesser leagues, the only real upset occurred in Conference USA where 25-to-1 shot Florida Atlantic beat 50-to-1 North Texas in the championship game, and heavily favored Western Kentucky was 4-4 in the league.
All that said, the media’s picks, including the three-deep All-SEC team, are nothing more than talking points to bridge the gap to the start of fall practice. As expected, offensive guard Hjalte Froholdt was the Razorbacks’ top vote-getter, making the second team. Linebacker De’Jon Harris was no surprise on the third team, but defensive back Santo Ramirez joining him was a bit unexpected.