SEC Football Media Days is a lot of things, but as you can see, don't put too much stock in voting results
Friday, July 15, 2011 | Football, Scott Carter
Yes, it's that time of year again. Time for the media, countless websites and anyone with a blog to roll out their preseason college football polls.
It's what we do. Since the games don't start for several weeks, you've got to have something to talk about.
I received an email earlier this morning that reminded of the preseason media voting that takes place at conference media days across the country.
Last year I attended Big East Media Days in Newport, R.I. This year it's off to Hoover, Ala., for SEC Media Days. I hear they are as different as Mister Rogers and Nancy Grace.
In looking at recent media voting at SEC Media Days, I was a little surprised at the results.
Since 1992 when the league broke into two divisions and started holding a conference championship game, you might think the media picked the conference champion right half the time, right? A quarter of the time, surely?
Nope. More like 21 percent (4 out of 19 years).
That goes to show how difficult it is to project the SEC considering how tough the schedule is from week to week.
Fresh off winning a national championship and with reigning Heisman winner Mark Ingram back, Alabama was picked as the preseason SEC favorite a year ago. The Crimson Tide finished fourth in the SEC West.
In 2009 the Gators were picked to repeat. Instead, Alabama knocked off the Gators in the SEC title game.
Of the four times the league media has picked the SEC champion correctly since 1992, the Gators (1994, 1995 and 2008) came through three of those times. The only other time it has happened was when LSU won the league and national title in 2007.
The worst pick by the media? The 2000 Alabama and 2005 Tennessee teams. Instead of winning the SEC title, both finished fifth.
A look at how the projected champions at SEC Football Media Days fared since 1992:
1992: Florida lost in SEC Championship game to Alabama
1993: Alabama lost in SEC Championship game to Florida
1994: Florida won SEC title
1995: Florida won SEC title
1996: Tennessee second in SEC East
1997: Florida tied for second in East
1998: Florida second in East
1999: Tennessee second in East
2000: Alabama tied for fifth in West
2001: Florida second in East
2002: Tennessee third in East
2003: Auburn third in West
2004: Georgia second in East
2005: Tennessee fifth in East
2006: Auburn tied for second in West
2007: LSU won SEC title
2008: Florida won SEC title
2009: Alabama fourth in West
So, as you can see, preseason voting results often mean little. I've been as wrong as anybody over the years, but before I go, I would like to point out a little fact from my only trip ever to Big East Media Days.
The way the voting works is that 24 media members make up the panel (three from each school) and cast their ballots.
Here was my 2010 ballot:
1. Connecticut
2. Pittsburgh
3. West Virginia
4. Cincinnati
5. USF
6. Rutgers
7. Louisville
8. Syracuse
Why Connecticut? The Huskies returned eight starters each on offense and defense, and former head coach Randy Edsall was considered by many league insiders as the conference's best coach. He has since moved on to Maryland.
And I also took this into account: UConn faced Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Cincinnati all at home in the second half of season.
OK, here were the actual voting results:
2010 BIG EAST FOOTBALL PRESEASON MEDIA POLL (first-place votes in parenthesis)
|
Rank |
Team |
Pts. |
|
1. |
Pittsburgh (22) |
190 |
|
2t. |
Cincinnati |
142 |
|
2t. |
West Virginia (1) |
142 |
|
4. |
Connecticut (1) |
131 |
|
5. |
Rutgers |
99 |
|
6. |
USF |
79 |
|
7. |
Syracuse |
41 |
|
8. |
Louisville |
40 |
As you can see, only one knucklehead picked Connecticut to win the 2010 Big East championship.
http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/080310aaa.html
As for the way the season turned out, they printed Big East Championship shirts for the Huskies before they headed off to represent the conference in the BCS Fiesta Bowl.
Sorry, I couldn't resist. It's the highlight of my media voting career – the only highlight.
Who are you picking to win the SEC in 2011? Click here if you want to join the conversation.
