Bulldogs and Rebels to Finish Last in SEC West?

There wasn’t much love from the media for the Mississippi State University and

University of Mississippi football teams at the SEC Media Days. Media members picked both to finish at the bottom of the SEC West Division.

Voters selected MSU (633 points) to finish sixth in the seven-team division, with the Rebels (379 points) receiving the fewest points of any team, coming in dead last. The University of Alabama (1,683 points) was the media’s pick to win the West and the SEC Championship.

The media picked Auburn University (,1329 points) to finish second in the West, with Louisiana State University (1,262 points) in third, the University of Arkansas (796 points) in fourth place, and Texas A&M University (722 points) in fifth place.

In the East, the University of Georgia (1,572 points) edged out the University of Florida (1,526 points) as the popular pick to win the division. The University of Tennessee (998 points) was the third choice, and the University of South Carolina (897 points) and the University of Kentucky (869 points) were in a close race for the fourth and fifth spots.

Vanderbilt University (554 points) ended up as the sixth spot in the East, and the University of Missouri (388 points) followed in last place.

Following Alabama as the top choice with 217 first-place votes, Auburn was a distant second choice to win the SEC Championship with 11 points, and Georgia followed with six points for third. LSU and Florida ended up tied in fifth place for the title, earning three points each, and South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Arkansas rounded out the list with one point each.

Alabama set a new media days record with 10 players on the preseason first-team SEC offense and defense. The Crimson Tide also held the previous record, nine players, which the university achieved in 2011.

MSU placed two players on the preseason All-SEC lists, with quarterback Nick Fitzgerald and offensive lineman Martinas Rankin both earning second-team offense honors. The Rebels had defensive lineman Marquis Haynes on first-team defense, offensive linemen Greg Little and Javon Patterson on third-team offense, and place kicker Gary Wunderlich on third-team special teams.

UM will kick off the season on Sept. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at home game against the University of South Alabama on ESPNU. The Bulldogs will also open the season at home on Sept. 2, hosting Charleston Southern University, but they join Auburn and Missouri as the three only teams still waiting to find out a kickoff time and broadcast station for their opening games. Auburn will host Georgia Southern University, and Missouri will host Missouri State University.