Media likes Auburn for SEC title

July 28, 2006

HOOVER, Ala. -- The Auburn Tigers are predicted to win its seventh Southeastern Conference football championship this season by media voting at the 2006 SEC Football Media Days, concluding today at the Wynfrey Hotel.

The Tigers also led all teams with 12 players selected to the Media Days pre-season All-SEC squad.

The Media Days event drew more than 500 media during the three days and an SEC Media Days-record 104 voted for the pre-season All-SEC Team and predictions.

The Tigers were selected as SEC Champion on 73 ballots while Florida was named on 11, Georgia on seven, LSU on six, Alabama on five and Tennessee on two.

In the divisional races, Auburn was named to win the Western Division on 87 ballots while LSU placed second, Alabama third, Arkansas fourth, Ole Miss fifth and Mississippi State sixth. Florida was predicted to win the Eastern Division. The Gators were named on 49 ballots to win the division. Defending SEC Champion Georgia was named to win the East on 42 ballots and placed second in the division. Tennessee was third, South Carolina fourth, Kentucky fifth and Vanderbilt sixh.

Georgia and LSU each had 10 players selected to the All-SEC squad followed by Arkansas and Florida with eight each, Alabama with seven and Tennessee with six. Kentucky had four, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State each had three while South Carolina and Ole Miss had two each. There were first, second and third-teams selected for this year's media days pre-season squad.

Eleven of the 12 SEC teams had first-team selections and every conference school has representatives on the All-SEC squad.

Ole Miss senior linebacker Patrick Willis was the top vote-getter among All-SEC recipients, being named on 98 of 104 ballots.

The team, listed with number of votes:

FIRST-TEAM -- OFFENSE

• TE--Martrez Milner (35), Georgia
• OL--Arron Sears (95) Tennessee; Will Arnold (72) LSU; Daniel Inman (69) Georgia; Tim Duckworth (65),Auburn
• C--Nick Jones (73) Georgia
• WR--Sidney Rice (94) South Carolina; Earl Bennett (49) Vanderbilt
• QB --Chris Leak (69) Florida;
• RB--Kenny Irons (84) Auburn; Darren McFadden (59) Arkansas

FIRST-TEAM -- DEFENSE

• DL--Quentin Moses (91) Georgia; Justin Harrell (64) Tennessee; Marcus Thomas (41) Florida
• LB--Patrick Willis (98) Ole Miss; Sam Olajubutu (80) Arkansas; Brandon Siler (79) Florida; Will Herring (40) Auburn
• DB--LaRon Landry (89) LSU; Fred Bennett (68) South Carolina; David Irons (61) Auburn; Ramzee Robinson (51) Alabama

FIRST-TEAM -- SPECIAL TEAMS

• PK--Brandon Coutu (74) Georgia;
• P--Kody Bliss (70) Auburn
• RS--Rafael Little (59) Kentucky

SECOND-TEAM -- OFFENSE

• TE--Jacob Tamme (33) Kentucky
• OL--Brian Stamper (49) Vanderbilt; Michael Oher (14) Ole Miss; Ben Grubbs (13) Auburn; Brian Anderson (7) Mississippi St.
• C--Antoine Caldwell (27) Alabama
• WR--Dallas Baker (19) Florida; Courtney Taylor (16) Auburn
• QB--Brandon Cox (21) Auburn
• RB--Kenneth Darby (52) Alabama; Arian Foster (7) Tennessee

THIRD-TEAM -- OFFENSE

• TE--Cole Bennett (14) Auburn
• OL--Zac Tubbs (6), Robert Felton (5), Stephen Parker (3), all Arkansas; Brian Johnson (3) LSU
• C--Joe Cope (3) Auburn
• WR--Dwayne Bowe (13) LSU; Marcus Monk (5) Arkansas
• QB --JaMarcus Russell (10) LSU
• RB--Rafael Little (2) Kentucky; Thomas Brown (2) Georgia

SECOND-TEAM -- DEFENSE

• DL--Quentin Groves (25) Auburn; Keith Jackson (20) Arkansas; Marquies Gunn (18) Auburn
• LB--Juwan Simpson (25) Alabama; Jarvis Jackson (14) Georgia; Quinton Culberson (13) Miss. State; Ali Highsmith (13) LSU
• DB--Tra Battle (35) Georgia; Reggie Nelson (29) Florida; Jonathan Hefney (16) Tennessee; Jeramie Johnson (13) Mississippi State

THIRD-TEAM -- DEFENSE

• DL--Chase Pittman (9) LSU; Jarvis Moss (8) Florida; Ray McDonald (8) Florida
• LB--Earl Everett (12) Florida; Tony Taylor (12) Georgia; Jonathan Goff (10) Vanderbilt; Wesley Woodyard (7) Kentucky
• DB--Chevis Jackson (11) LSU; Simeon Castille (8) Alabama; Jessie Daniels (8) LSU; Jonathan Wade (6) Tennessee

SECOND-TEAM -- SPECIAL TEAMS

• PK--James Wilhoit (12) Tennessee
• P--Gordon Ely-Kelso (16) Georgia
• RS--Felix Jones (30) Arkansas

THIRD-TEAM -- SPECIAL TEAMS

• PK--Jamie Christensen (9) Alabama
• P --Chris Jackson (6) LSU
• RS--Tyrone Prothro (4) Alabama

SEC CHAMPION

1. Auburn 73
2. Florida 11
3. Georgia 7
4. LSU 6
5. Alabama 5
6. Tennessee 2

Eastern Division (First Place Votes in Parenthesis)

1. Florida (49) 179
2. Georgia (42) 200
3. Tennessee (9) 303
4. South Carolina (4) 362
5. Kentucky 545
6. Vanderbilt 595

Western Division (First Place Votes in Parenthesis)

1. Auburn (87) 129
2. LSU (12) 217
3. Alabama (5) 348
4. Arkansas 364
5. Ole Miss 550
6. Mississippi State 576