NEWS: Tennessee Picked First In SEC Preseason Poll

The Tennessee Volunteers were chosen by the media to win the SEC. Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler also got all-conference nods.

Tennessee was picked to win the SEC for just the second time under Rick Barnes. The Vols return a handful of key players from last season and a couple of important transfers that led to them getting this hype from the media. Tennessee opens the conference slate on January 6th against Ole Miss at home.

In the preseason poll, the Vols beat out Texas A&M, Arkansas, Kentucky, and last season's champion Alabama for the top spot. While the race at the top could end up being really close, the media agrees with the analytics as KenPom, EvanMiya, and Torvik also picked the Vols to win the conference. Here's the full poll:

SEC Preseason Poll, per release:

1. Tennessee
2. Texas A&M
3. Arkansas
4. Kentucky
5. Alabama
6. Auburn
7. Mississippi State
8. Florida
9. Missouri
10. Ole Miss
11. Vanderbilt
12. Georgia
13. LSU
14. South Carolina

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 17, 2023

On an individual basis, two Vols, Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler, were both selected to preseason All-Conference teams. Vescovi was picked on the first team along with Justin Edwards (Kentucky), Tolu Smith (Mississippi State), Trevon Brazille (Arkansas), Grant Nelson (Alabama), Johni Broome (Auburn), and SEC Preseason Player of the Year Wade Taylor lV (Texas A&M).

Zeigler was selected to the second team along with Mark Sears (Alabama), Devo Davis (Arkansas), Riley Kugel (Florida), and Antonio Reeves (Kentucky). While Zeigler is still recovering from a torn ACL, Barnes seems optimistic about him returning early in the season and potentially even playing in the opener.

Tennessee Volunteers HC Rick Barnes during a postgame presser. (Photo credit Volunteer Country)

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