SEC Media Days wrapped up on Thursday, but a big piece of news came out of the conference office on Friday -- and no, it has nothing to do with Texas and Oklahoma potentially joining the SEC. It's the 2021 predicted order of finish for the upcoming college football season as voted on by the credentialed members of the media.
Defending SEC and national champion Alabama has been pegged to repeat as West division champions, while Georgia is now the official favorite to win the East for the fourth time in five seasons. The Crimson Tide, at least according to the media, are the most likely team to hoist the conference championship trophy on Dec. 4 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Ole Miss, Kentucky and South Carolina were three of the seven teams that had at least one vote to win the SEC. Yes, you read that correctly.
Here's a look at how the voting for the 2021 SEC champion broke down:
| Team | First-place votes |
|---|---|
1. Alabama | 84 |
2. Georgia | 45 |
T3. Ole Miss | 1 |
T3. Texas A&M | 1 |
| T3. Florida | 1 |
| T3. Kentucky | 1 |
| T3. South Carolina | 1 |
Here's the full breakdown of the predicted order of finish for each division. First-place votes are in parenthesis.
| West | East |
|---|---|
1. Alabama 931 (130) | 1. Georgia 923 (124) |
2. Texas A&M 760 (1) | 2. Florida 784 (7) |
3. LSU 633 (1) | 3. Kentucky 624 (2) |
4. Ole Miss 529 (1) | 4. Missouri 555 |
5. Auburn 440 | 5. Tennessee 362 |
6. Arkansas 241 (1) | 6. South Carolina 355 (1) |
7. Mississippi State 217 | 7. Vanderbilt 149 |
The media has been correct in predicting the SEC champion eight times since voting began in 1992, four of which have come since 2014 (all won by Alabama).
