BATON ROUGE — LSU has been picked to win the Southeastern Conference’s Western Division, according to a poll taken by members of the media at SEC Football Media Days in Birmingham, Ala., the league office announced on Thursday.
The Tigers received 40 of a possible 84 first place votes to edge out second place Mississippi State in the Western Division. Florida was the overwhelming choice in the Eastern Division as the Gators tallied 78 first place votes.
Rounding out the Western Division were Alabama in third, followed by Auburn, Arkansas and Ole Miss. Florida was followed by Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
The Tigers also had two players named to the first team pre-season all-SEC squad as wide receiver Josh Reed and linebacker Trev Faulk earned a spot on the unit. Tight end Robert Royal, along with quarterback Rohan Davey and linebacker Bradie James were second team selections.
2001 PRE-SEASON ALL-SEC TEAM
(As voted on by members of attendees at SEC Football Media Day) [84 total voters]
* – Ties
FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
TE Derek Smith (40) Kentucky 6-6 265 Jr. Silver Grove, Ky.
OL Mike Pearson (74) Florida 6-7 292 Jr. Seffner, Fla.
OL Terrence Metcalf (70) Ole Miss 6-3 315 Sr. Clarksdale, Miss.
OL Jon Stinchcomb (57) Georgia 6-6 278 Jr. Lilburn, Ga.
OL Kendall Simmons (56) Auburn 6-3 328 Sr. Ripley, Miss.
C Ben Claxton (51) Ole Miss 6-3 281 Jr. Dublin, Ga.
WR Jabar Gaffney (81) Florida 6-1 202 So. Jacksonville, Fla.
WR Josh Reed (59) LSU 5-11 200 Jr. Rayne, La.
QB Casey Clausen (33) Tennessee 6-4 210 So. Northridge, Calif.
RB Dicenzo Miller (58) Miss. State 5-10 207 Sr. Weir, Miss.
RB Cedric Cobbs (45) Arkansas 6-1 221 So. Little Rock, Ark.
PK Jeff Chandler (42) Florida 6-2 219 Sr. Jacksonville, Fla.
RS Freddie Milons (45) Alabama 5-11 191 Sr. Starkville, Miss.
FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
DL John Henderson (80) Tennessee 6-7 290 Sr. Nashville, Tenn.
DL Alex Brown (65) Florida 6-3 264 Sr. White Springs, Fla.
DL Will Overstreet (28) Tennessee 6-4 260 Sr. Jackson, Miss.
ILB Trev Faulk (72) LSU 6-3 225 Jr. Lafayette, La.
ILB Saleem Rasheed (44) Alabama 6-3 227 Jr. Birmingham, Ala.
OLB Kalimba Edwards (68) South Carolina 6-6 260 Sr. East Point, Ga.
OLB Mario Haggan (64) Miss. State 6-3 253 Jr. Clarksdale, Miss.
DB Lito Sheppard (78) Florida 5-10 194 Jr. Jacksonville, Fla.
DB Pig Prather (77) Miss. State 6-2 195 Sr. Falkner, Miss.
DB Sheldon Brown (47) South Carolina 5-10 190 Sr. Fort Lawn, S.C.
DB Tim Wansley (44) Georgia 5-9 172 Sr. Buford, Ga.
P Damon Duval (72) Auburn 6-0 184 Jr. Chattanooga, Tenn.
SECOND-TEAM OFFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
TE Robert Royal (34) LSU 6-5 231 Sr. New Orleans, La.
OL Fred Weary (39) Tennessee 6-4 301 Sr. Montgomery, Ala.
OL Kenny Sandlin (9) Arkansas 6-3 313 Sr. Van Buren, Ark.
OL Cedric Williams (7) South Carolina 6-3 300 Jr. Charleston, S.C.
OL Melvin Paige (5) South Carolina 6-5 305 Sr. Dillon, S.C.
C Zac Zedalis (8) Florida 6-3 280 Sr. Alachua, Fla.
WR Terrence Edwards (10) Georgia 6-1 165 Jr. Tennille, Ga.
WR Freddie Milons (9) Alabama 5-11 191 Sr. Starkville, Miss.
*QB Rex Grossman (15) Florida 6-1 218 So. Bloomington, Ind.
*QB Rohan Davey (15) LSU 6-3 239 Sr. Miami, Fla.
RB Derek Watson (43) South Carolina 6-1 210 Jr. Williamston, S.C.
RB Earnest Graham (10) Florida 5-9 220 Jr. Fort Myers, Fla.
PK Alex Walls (33) Tennessee 6-1 190 Jr. Bristol, Va.
RS Ray Perkins (12) Vanderbilt 5-10 191 So. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE
Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
DL Kindal Moorehead (25) Alabama 6-4 293 Jr. Memphis, Tenn.
DL DeMarco McNeil (17) Auburn 6-1 301 So. Prichard, Ala.
DL Dorsett Davis (16) Miss. State 6-6 314 Sr. Cleveland, Miss.
OLB Eddie Strong (32) Ole Miss 6-3 242 Jr. Batesville, Miss.
OLB Bradie James (22) LSU 6-3 228 Jr. West Monroe, La.
ILB Andra Davis (4) Florida 6-1 254 Sr. Live Oak, Fla.
ILB Dominique Stevenson (3) Tennessee 6-0 220 Sr. Gaffney, S.C.
DB Todd Johnson (25) Florida 6-1 194 Jr. Sarasota, Fla.
DB Syniker Taylor (25) Ole Miss 6-0 205 Sr. Gulfport, Miss.
DB Andre Lott (18) Tennessee 5-11 185 Sr. Memphis, Tenn.
DB Ken Hamlin (8) Arkansas 6-2 197 So. Memphis, Tenn.
P Richie Butler (7) Arkansas 6-1 210 Jr. Harrison, Ark.
SEC PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
(Tabulated on a 1-2-3-4-5-6 scale)
SEC CHAMPION [There were five voters that did not have a champion selected]
Florida (66), Miss. State (4), Tennessee (4), LSU (2), Alabama (1), Ole Miss (1), South Carolina (1)
Eastern Division (First Place Votes in parenthesis)
1. Florida (78) 90
2. Tennessee (5) 174
3. South Carolina (1) 275
4. Georgia 306
5. Vanderbilt 434
6. Kentucky 485
Western Division (First Place Votes in parenthesis)
1. LSU (40) 141
2. Miss. State (34) 151
3. Alabama (8) 266
4. Auburn (1) 382
5. Arkansas 411
6. Ole Miss (1) 413