The annual SEC Media Days event arrived in Texas with plenty of storylines on Monday, the Georgia Bulldogs’ championship contender status certainly peppered among them.
The introduction of Texas and Oklahoma, of course, has been the main attraction this year, the league swelling from 14 to 16 teams, divisional play abolished.
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Already, Georgia’s Oct. 19 game against the Longhorns in Austin — some 200 miles south of the media event in Dallas this week — has taken on an anticipated “Game of the Year” stature.
CARSON BECK 4-PART SERIES:
• Beck shares how UGA moves on without Brock Bowers
• Beck on Heisman Trophy, why it’s a team award
• UGA QB Carson Beck brings new edge to 2024
• Carson Beck explains his love for pressure situations
More headlines will emerge with coaches and players representing all of the schools providing roster updates, offseason reviews and injury status.
It’s also one final look at preseason perception, with media on hand voting a predicted order of finish and choosing preseason first- and second-team players.
Those predictions, a cumulative tally of votes from media on hand, are scheduled to be released on Friday.
But why wait?
Here’s a predicted order of finish from this seat, along with a preview of All-SEC status for capable UGA players:
SEC predicted order of finish:
1. Georgia
2. Texas
3. Texas A&M
4. Alabama
5. Ole Miss
6. LSU
7. Missouri
8. Oklahoma
9. Tennessee
10. Kentucky
11. Florida
12. Auburn
13. Arkansas
14. South Carolina
15. Mississippi State
16. Vanderbilt
The preseason All-SEC team is always debated, with each fanbase, and in some case media contingents, confident its respective players are most deserving.
Here’s a look at Georgia players deserving of hype, based on projecting this season, more so than what the players accomplished during the 2023 campaign:
Projected Georgia All-SEC players
First-team All-SEC
QB Carson Beck
RB Trevor Etienne
TE Oscar Delp
OG Tate Ratledge
DE Mykel Williams
FS Malaki Starks
P Brett Thorson
Second-team All-SEC
RB Roderick Robinson
WR Dominic Lovett
WR Dillon Bell
OT Earnest Greene lll
DT Nazir Stackhouse
LB CJ Allen
K Peyton Woodring
Third-team All-SEC
OC Jared Wilson
TE Ben Yurochek
LB Smael Mondon
LB Jalon Walker
CB Daylen Everette
DT Warren Brinson