Over a week ago, I created an interactive article to poll who fellow members thought would place one through six in the SEC West.
I, along with 13 other B/R members, voiced an opinion on which team we thought would be the eventual SEC West Champion, finish second, and so on.
For example, I picked:
1) Auburn
2) LSU
3) Alabama
4) Ole Miss
5) Mississippi State
6) Arkansas
Therefore, Auburn received six points, LSU five, Alabama four, Ole Miss three, Mississippi State two, and Arkansas one.
I used that format for everyone's votes and tallied up the total. Here are the results:
1) Auburn - 72 points (7)
2) LSU - 72 points (4)
3) Alabama - 61 points (3)
4) Mississippi State - 35 points
5) Ole Miss - 34 points
6) Arkansas - 19 points
Auburn takes the No. 1 spot over LSU with a tiebreaker of the total number of No. 1 votes cast. Auburn had seven No. 1 votes cast, and LSU came in with four.
Alabama was a dominating third with 61 points, as three pollsters agreed that 'Bama would be headed for Atlanta in December.
Mississippi State edged out Ole Miss by one point in the four spot. Ole Miss, however, had three pollsters who had them in the cellar for next year.
Arkansas rounded out the poll with 19 points. Ten out of 14 pollsters believe Arkansas will finish sixth in the poll.
This poll can be considered partially biased, but, with the disparity between teams, it can be considered a general idea through the conference on how the SEC West will shape up. In any poll, you're going to have media members that have certain bias toward certain teams (for example, Steve Spurrier granting one vote in the preseason poll to Duke every year). Consider this a BleacherReport.com perspective on how the SEC West will shape out.
The BleacherReport.com writers that participated in the poll include: Derek Stephens, Tim Pollock, Efrom Owens, Justin Goar, Jimson Cuenta, Justin Hokanson, James Doker, Will Shelton, Timothy Croley, Tyler Jones, Ben White, Colin Clark, Daniel Brown, and Greg Shelton.
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28 days ago
It will be tough for LSU to repeat as SEC champion. Auburn just could be the team in the West.
28 days ago
That is a pretty reasonable list. I think the SEC West will be as competitive as it has ever been. Auburn and LSU are a consensus 1-2, with either team capable of winning the west. I would not be surprised if Mississippi St. finished 3rd this year.
28 days ago
Good stuff, Derek.
Now hit up the East!
28 days ago
I'm an AU fan so I'll admit my bias up front. But, as a general rule, I don't count on "up and coming" teams until they are actually up. So, until someone gives me an on-the-field reason to believe otherwise, I say it will be another two-man race this year between AU and LSU. But sadly, in the end we're probably just picking which team will lose to UGA or UF in the SEC Championship Game.
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