BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team enters the 2009 season as back-to-back winners of the SEC Western Division championship, and the Tigers have been picked by the league’s 12 head coaches to win their third-straight title with the release of the SEC’s preseason predictions on Wednesday.
The Tigers are a true contender for the overall conference championship as they return eight starters from a team that finished second in the final SEC standings in 2008 with a 7-3-1 mark in league play.
LSU received a total of eight first-place votes and 63 points to win its third SEC West title in a row while also picking up three votes to finish in second place in the division. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team when submitting their preseason ballot.
The Florida Gators, who finished the 2008 season with a perfect 11-0 record in SEC play, are the favorite to win their fourth-straight overall SEC championship while picking up 11 votes as the preseason favorite in the league standings. Auburn are picked to finish close behind LSU in second in the SEC West with 58 points, while Ole Miss is projected as the third-place finisher in the SEC West with 43 points.
“I think it’s pretty clear cut that Florida is the favorite to win the overall league championship with what it has accomplished in recent years, but there are definitely four or five teams that can be in the mix heading down the stretch,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “We are fortunate to be one of those teams. This team has worked very hard in the preseason, and we look forward to kicking off the regular season on Friday.”
The Tigers will kick off the 2009 regular season on Friday night as they welcome the two-time defending Conference USA champion Memphis Tigers to the LSU Soccer Complex for a 7 p.m. opening kick.
SEC PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
SEC Champion: Florida (11), Auburn (1)
EASTERN DIVISION
Team (First Place Votes) Total Points
Florida (11) 66
Georgia (1) 53
Tennessee 43
South Carolina 40
Vanderbilt 25
Kentucky 19
WESTERN DIVISION
Team (First Place Votes) Total Points
LSU (8) 63
Auburn (4) 58
Ole Miss 43
Alabama 39
Arkansas 25
Mississippi State 18