BATON ROUGE – As the LSU soccer team travels to Memphis, Tenn., to kick off the 2011-12 athletic season against the University of Memphis on Friday night, the Tigers were selected to finish runner-up in the SEC Western Division for the 2011 season in a preseason vote of the league’s 12 head coaches put out by the Southeastern Conference office on Thursday.
The Tigers received five first-place votes and six second-place votes for 60 points in the ballot as they are poised to take home a fourth SEC West title in five seasons and compete for their first SEC championship in program history. Teams were not allowed to vote for themselves in the poll.
If LSU hopes to add a fourth SEC West crown to its trophy case, it must battle the likes of defending SEC West champion Auburn for the 2011 title. Auburn was selected as the SEC West favorite in the preseason with seven first-place votes and four second-place votes for 62 points in the ballot. Ole Miss finished well behind LSU and Auburn in third place with 39 points followed by Alabama (37) in fourth place, Arkansas (30) in fifth place and Mississippi State (18) in sixth place in the SEC West.
LSU will go on the road to open the 2011 season Friday night against the four-time defending Conference USA Tournament champion Memphis Tigers with a 7 p.m. match at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex.
“Preseason polls are an opportunity to promote the league during the preseason,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “We’ve set a really high standard for ourselves at LSU, and we’re working very hard to live up to our own expectations this season. We’re excited for the opportunity to compete for a championship this season. We especially look forward to a great challenge opening up our season at Memphis.”
The five-time defending SEC champion Florida Gators are the unanimous pick to capture its sixth-straight league crown after claiming 11 first-place votes to lay claim to both the SEC Eastern Division and overall SEC titles with 66 points. South Carolina finish well back in the SEC East voting with 51 total points.
SEC PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
SEC Champion: Florida (11), South Carolina (1)
EASTERN DIVISION
Team (First Place Votes) Points
1. Florida (11) 66
2. South Carolina (1) 51
3. Georgia 48
4. Tennessee 35
5. Vanderbilt 26
6. Kentucky 20
WESTERN DIVISION
Team (First Place Votes) Points
1. Auburn (7) 62
2. LSU (5) 60
3. Ole Miss 39
4. Alabama 37
5. Arkansas 30
6. Mississippi State 18