Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
SEC media pick Hogs to wallow
FAYETTEVILLE — Reporters who covered SEC football media days in Atlanta earlier this week aren’t expecting much from the Arkansas Razorbacks under firstyear Coach Chad Morris.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville was picked to finish seventh and last in the SEC West by media members who cast 284 total ballots.
Arkansas has been picked last in the West in several other preseason polls.
“It kind of rubs us the wrong way, but I expect that, especially coming from a 4-8 season,” Razorbacks senior safety Santos Ramirez said Tuesday when Arkansas appeared at media days. “People are going to see that, outside looking in.
“But we know the talent we have inside that room.
We know what we’re capable of. We can really make a run in the SEC West. We can really compete. Last year, we could have done a better job with finishing, and it would have kept us in a lot more ballgames.
“That really became second nature for us this offseason. That’s kudos to Coach Morris and the type of mentality that he brought to us.”
Arkansas senior guard Hjalte Froholdt was voted to the All-SEC second-team offense, and Ramirez and junior linebacker De’Jon Harris were voted to the third-team defense.
Alabama was an overwhelming choice to win the SEC overall and West titles. Georgia received even more votes to win the East than Alabama did to win the West — 271 to 263 — but the Crimson Tide got 193 votes for the SEC title.
Only six times in 26 previous years since the SEC expanded to divisions in 1992 has the media accurately picked the conference’s overall champion with Florida in 1994 and 1995, LSU in 2007, Florida in 2008, and Alabama in 2014 and 2017.
The biggest miss by the media came in 2015 when Auburn was picked to win the SEC championship and finished seventh in the West.
If the media turns out to be right about the division championships this year, the SEC Championship Game will be a rematch of last year’s national title game when Alabama beat Georgia 26-23 in overtime.
Former running back Darren McFadden (Pulaski Oak Grove) remains the only SEC player since 2000 to be a unanimous first-team selection at his position. He received every vote at media days going into his final season with the Razorbacks in 2007.