Alabama Picked to Finish 6th in 2014 SEC Men’s Basketball

Kentucky was predicted to win the 2014 Southeastern Conference men’s basketball championship in voting by a select panel of both SEC and national media members. Each SEC school selected media members that cover their team and additional media from across the nation were selected by the conference office to form the voting panel.

The Wildcats, who are the overall preseason favorite for the ninth time since the 1998-99 season, tallied 21 first-place votes while Florida earned five first-place votes and Tennessee received one vote.

Kentucky freshman Julius Randle was the choice of the media for SEC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year with 11 votes. Tennessee’s Jordan McRae (5 votes), LSU’s Johnny O’Bryant III (3 votes), Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes (3 votes), Florida’s Patric Young (2 votes), Ole Miss’ Marshall Henderson (2 votes) and Alabama’s Trevor Releford (1 vote) also received votes in the Player of the Year voting.

Releford, Randle, O’Bryant, Henderson and McRae were each All-SEC First Team selections.

Points were compiled on a 14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Each media member also voted for a five-player All-SEC Team.

The 2013-14 SEC Media Preseason Poll tips off SEC Basketball Media Day, October 16-17 at The Westin Birmingham. The 2013-14 campaign begins November 8, with conference play set to begin January 7. The 2014 SEC Tournament will be March 12-16 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga.

First Team All-SEC

Trevor Releford – Alabama, G, 6-0, 190, Sr., Kansas City, Mo.

Julius Randle – Kentucky, F, 6-9, 250, Fr., Dallas, Texas

Johnny O’Bryant III – LSU, F , 6-9 , 256 , Jr. , Cleveland, Miss.

Marshall Henderson – Ole Miss, G, 6-2, 177, Sr., Hurst, Texas

Jordan McRae – Tennessee, G, 6-6, 185, Sr., Midway, Ga.

Second Team All-SEC

Scottie Wilbekin – Florida, G, 6-2, 176, Sr., Gainesville, Fla.

Patric Young – Florida, C, 6-9, 240, Sr., Jacksonville, Fla.

Willie Cauley-Stein – Kentucky, F, 7-0, 244, So., Olathe, Kan.

Andrew Harrison – Kentucky, G, 6-6, 215, Fr., Richmond, Texas

Dakari Johnson – Kentucky, C, 7-0, 265, Fr., Brooklyn, N.Y.