Three SEC teams make USA Today preseason coaches poll

By
Blake Lovell
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The USA Today preseason coaches poll has been released, with three SEC teams represented in the Top 25.

Kentucky was voted at No. 4, Florida at No. 7, and Alabama at No. 25.

Duke was named the preseason No. 1 team in the country.

Five other SEC teams received votes: Texas A&M (76), Missouri (35), Georgia (3), Arkansas (2), South Carolina (1).

The Aggies were the next team in line to make the Top 25 and were six votes behind Alabama.

Florida was the only SEC team to receive a first-place vote.

Lovell’s Analysis

While I continue to express how meaningless preseason polls are, I’ll share a few thoughts.

For starters, Kentucky might not be the No. 4 team in the country at this exact moment. The potential is certainly to reach that mark, but as John Calipari repeated as SEC Media Day, this is still a young team that has a long way to go.

Next up, the Gators getting a first-place vote is interesting. However, as I said in my lengthy SEC preseason power rankings piece, Mike White’s squad might be the SEC team that’s best equipped to make a Final Four run.

Alabama making the poll isn’t surprising, but Texas A&M being left out is. The Aggies feature one of the most promising starting lineups in the country and could wind up being a Top 10 team by season’s end.

Also, Missouri getting that many votes shows the belief in the talented freshman class led by Michael Porter Jr.

As for the other three that received votes, it’s a good reminder that many SEC teams could be really good this season.