Alabama has been picked to win the 2020 SEC Championship, marking the fifth consecutive year that Nick Saban's Crimson Tide will enter the season as the conference favorite, according to the preseason media poll. Alabama edged out LSU and Georgia in the poll, with both the Tigers and Bulldogs tying as the predicted second-place finishers.
In total, just four SEC teams earned first-place votes as an SEC champion. Alabama's 77 leads the quartet, while Georgia, LSU and Florida trail in the single digits.
Here's a look at how the voting for the SEC champion broke down:
TEAM | FIRST-PLACE VOTES |
1. Alabama | 77 |
T2. Georgia | 7 |
T2. LSU | 7 |
4. Florida | 5 |
Five SEC teams in total earned first-place votes in the poll divisionally, led by Alabama's 86 in the SEC West. Florida earned an SEC East-leading 53 first-place votes with Georgia (43) not far behind. LSU (8) and Texas A&M (2) also earned votes, though the Aggies were predicted to finish fourth in their own division.
Here are the full division breakdowns. First-place votes are in parentheses.
WEST | EAST |
1. Alabama 660 (86) | 1. Florida 624 (53) |
2. LSU 489 (8) | 2. Georgia 613 (43) |
3. Auburn 488 | 3. Tennessee 434 |
4. Texas A&M 454 (2) | 4. Kentucky 405 |
T5. Ole Miss 238 | 5. South Carolina 287 |
T5. Mississippi State 238 | 6. Missouri 224 |
7. Arkansas 121 | 7. Vanderbilt 101 |
LSU was picked to finish third in the SEC championship prediction portion of this poll last year before going on to a perfect 15-0 season capped by a national championship, so keep that in mind before you mentally write off anyone before games start. Only seven times in the last 28 years has the preseason media poll accurately predicted the eventual SEC champion.
