The preseason SEC media rankings were released Friday with Tennessee getting picked to finish in fifth place in the SEC East.
Georgia—who was picked to win the division— Florida, Kentucky and Missouri were all picked ahead of the Vols.
Tennessee edged out South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Like the Vols, South Carolina and Vanderbilt have first year head coaches.
In the western division, Alabama was picked to finish first followed in order by Texas A&M, LSU, Ole Miss, Auburn, Arkansas and Mississippi State.
The league’s media picked Alabama to beat Georgia in the SEC Championship game.
Last season in the 10-game SEC only schedule, Tennessee finished in fifth place with a 3-7 record. The Vols finished ahead of the two teams that they are predicted to finish in front of this season— South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
Tennessee was just one of three teams in the SEC East not to get a vote to be the division champion, joining Missouri and Vanderbilt. South Carolina received one vote while Kentucky received two.
Josh Heupel’s first team earned a total of 362 votes, 193 votes less than fourth place Missouri received and seven votes more than sixth place South Carolina received.
The Vols landed three total players on the three Preseason All-SEC teams. Cade Mays was named a First Team offensive lineman, Paxton Brooks was named a Second Team punter and Alontae Taylor was named a Second Team defensive back.
Tennessee will begin SEC play week four when they travel to Gainesville to play Florida. Kick-off time for the Sept. 25 matchup has yet to be determined.
