Not bad, first year in the SEC & Mizzou has two players listed. Our back court was the strength last year-as it was the front court too.
In John Calipari’s first year in Lexington, Kentucky won the SEC and reached the Elite Eight. In his second, his Cats finished third in the SEC (gasp!) and then reached the Final Four. Last year, his team again won the SEC and then went to win the national championship.
At that rate, UK will win the SEC and the NBA title this season.
So it’s no wonder the media today tabbed Kentucky as the preseason basketball favorite in the SEC. The voting was done “by a select panel of both SEC and national media members.”
Here are the results of the poll:
| School | Total Points | 1st Place Votes |
| Kentucky | 328 | 17 |
| Florida | 310 | 5 |
| Missouri | 286 | 1 |
| Tennessee | 269 | 1 |
| Arkansas | 226 | 0 |
| Alabama | 222 | 0 |
| Ole Miss | 186 | 0 |
| Georgia | 149 | 0 |
| Texas A&M | 122 | 0 |
| Vanderbilt | 120 | 0 |
| LSU | 116 | 0 |
| Auburn | 95 | 0 |
| S. Carolina | 54 | 0 |
| Miss. State | 37 | 0 |
The panel also selected the league’s preseason All-SEC teams:
First Team All-SEC
BJ Young, G, Arkansas
Kenny Boynton, G, Florida
Nerlens Noel, F, Kentucky
Phil Pressey, G. Missouri
Jarnell Stokes, F, Tennessee
Second Team All-SEC
Marshawn Powell, F, Arkansas
Patric Young, C, Florida
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, G, Georgia
Alex Poythress, F, Kentucky
Michael Dixon, G, Missouri
Jeronne Maymon, F, Tennessee
The media also selected Missouri’s Pressey as the league’s preseason Player of the Year.
