Where Alabama Football Was Picked To Finish in The SEC

The annual SEC preseason media poll did not pick the Crimson Tide to win the league in Kalen DeBoer's first season.

Kalen DeBoer at SEC Media Days / SEC Media Portal

SEC Media Days has come and gone, meaning it won't be long for the 2024 football season to begin. The conclusion of the event brings the annual SEC preseason media selections for this year's champion and best players in the conference. The conference welcomes Texas and Oklahoma and abolishes the East and West divisions making this year's season one of the most interesting in recent memory.

2024 SEC Media Selection for Conference Champion

Seven schools received votes as preseason favorites to win the league but only three schools had double-digit votes. The conference media overwhelmingly selected the Georgia Bulldogs to win the 2024 SEC Championship.

1. Georgia - 165
2. Texas - 27
3. Alabama - 12
4. Ole Miss - 4
5. Vanderbilt - 2
6. LSU - 2
7. South Carolina - 1

2024 SEC Media Predicted Order of Finish

The media had an opportunity to also predict the selected order of finish 1-16 in a separate poll. The top four didn't change from the championship predictions, but the Crimson Tide was given a little more favor, closing the gap on second place Texas. Below reflects the media's predicted order of finish with the point values assigned to each.

1. Georgia - 3330
2. Texas - 3041
3. Alabama - 2891
4. Ole Miss - 2783
5. LSU - 2322
6. Missouri - 2240
7. Tennessee - 2168
8. Oklahoma - 2022
9. Texas A&M - 1684
10. Auburn - 1382
11. Kentucky - 1371
12. Florida - 1146
13. South Carolina - 923
14. Arkansas - 749
15. Mississippi State - 623
16. Vanderbilt - 293

SEC Preseason All-Conference Selections

The Alabama Crimson Tide saw 16 players selected as Preseason All-SEC players across the offense, defense and special teams. Georgia also had 16 selections while Texas had 13 players represented across the three teams.

Offense

First Team

QB –  Carson Beck, UGA
RB - Trevor Etienne, UGA
RB - Jarquez Hunter, AU
WR - Luther Burden III, MIZ
WR - Tre Harris, UM
TE - Caden Prieskorn, UM
OL - Tyler Booker, UA
OL - Will Campbell, LSU
OL - Kelvin Banks Jr., TEX
OL - Tate Ratledge, UGA
C - Cooper Mays, UT

Second Team

QB – Quinn Ewers, TEX 
RB - Raheim Sanders, SC
RB - CJ Baxter, TEX
RB - Montrell Johnson Jr., UF
WR - Isaiah Bond, TEX
WR - Kyren Lacy, LSU
TE - Mason Taylor, LSU
OL - Emery Jones, LSU
OL - Kadyn Proctor, UA
OL - Xavier Truss, UGA
OL - Dylan Fairchild, UGA
C - Parker Brailsford, UA

Third Team

QB – Jalen Milroe, UA
RB - Justice Haynes, UA
RB - Ulysses Bentley UM
WR - Deion Burks, OU
WR - Dominic Lovett, UGA
TE - Oscar Delp, UGA
OL - Earnest Greene III, UGA
OL - Marques Cox, UK
OL - Trey Zuhn III, TAMU
OL - Jaeden Roberts, UA
C - Jake Majors, TEX

Defense

First Team

DL - James Pearce Jr., UT
DL - Walter Nolen, UM
DL - Deone Walker, UK
DL - Nazir Stackhouse, UGA
LB - Harold Perkins, LSU
LB - Danny Stutsman, OU
LB - Deontae Lawson, UA
LB - Mykel Williams, UGA
DB - Malaki Starks, UGA
DB - Malachi Moore, UA
DB - Billy Bowman, OU
DB - Maxwell Hairston, UK

Second Team

DL - Shemar Turner, TAMU
DL - Landon Jackson, ARK
DL - Nic Scourton, TAMU
DL - Tim Smith, UA
DL - Jared Ivey, UM
LB - Debo Williams, SC
LB - Anthony Hill Jr., TEX
LB - Smael Mondon Jr., UGA
DB - Jahdae Barron, TEX
DB - Major Burns - LSU
DB - Andrew Mukuba, TEX
DB - Malik Muhammad, TEX

Third Team

DL  - Tim Keenan III, UA
DL - Princely Umanmielen, UM
DL - Trey Moore, TEX
DL - Tonka Hemingway, SC
LB - Jamon "Pop" Dumas-Johnson, UK
LB - Jihaad Campbell, UA
LB - Eugene Asante, AU
DB - Domani Jackson, UA
DB - Daylen Everette, UGA
DB - Jason Marshall Jr., UF
DB - Keon Sabb, UA
DB - Nick Emmanwori, SC

SPECIALISTS

First Team

P -  James Burnip, UA
PK - Bert Auburn, TEX
LS - Kneeland Hibbett, UA
KS - Alex McPherson, AU
RS - Barion Brown, UK
AP - Zavion Thomas, LSU

Second Team

P - Brett Thorson, UGA
PK - Graham Nicholson, UA
LS - Hunter Rogers, SC
KS - Will Stone, TEX
RS - Zavion Thomas, LSU
AP - Dillion Bell, UGA

Third Team

P - Jeremy Crawshaw, UF
PK - Alex McPherson, AU
LS - Slade Roy, LSU
KS - Trey Smack, UF
RS - Keionte Scott, AU
AP - Barion Brown, UK
AP - Jaydon Blue, TEX