Rantin’ & Ravin’: Media picks 2025 preseason All-SEC Team and conference winner

By Chris Marler

We spent four days in Atlanta at SEC Media Days talking and talking and then talking some more. 

Here we are less than a day later after everyone went back home from a long week, and we are already here talking some more. Talking season is thankfully coming to an end, but before it does there’s still time to overreact to the latest thing to cross our timelines: the 2025 Media Predictions for Preseason All-SEC Teams and who will win the conference title this season. 

Let’s start with the predicted order of finish where Texas is an overwhelming favorite to win the conference in year two of being in the league. 

Media projected order of finish

1. Texas 3060
2. Georgia 2957
3. Alabama 2783
4. LSU 2668
5. S Carolina 2109
6. Florida 1986
7. Ole Miss 1979
8. Texas A&M 1892
9. Tennessee 1700
10. Oklahoma 1613
11. Auburn 1272
12. Missouri 1170
13. Vanderbilt 936
14. Arkansas 764
15. Kentucky 512
16. Miss St 343

My ballot for 2025 order of finish

1. Georgia 
2. Texas 
3. Alabama 
4. LSU
5. Missouri 
6. South Carolina
7. Ole Miss
8. Texas A&M
9. Auburn 
10. Tennessee 
11. Florida 
12. Oklahoma 
13. Vanderbilt 
14. Arkansas 
15. Mississippi State
16. Kentucky

The biggest surprise here is probably how much respect South Carolina is getting from the media. That’s definitely a first for the program and fanbase that is seemingly picked to finish between 5-7 and 7-5 every year. The other two surprises were Florida at No. 6 and Missouri at No. 12, both unexpected for the same reason: their schedules. 

Florida will once again play one of the most difficult schedules in the country, including four straight games where they play LSU and Miami back to back on the road followed by Texas and Texas A&M back-to-back after a bye week. 

Missouri, on the other hand, is in the exact opposite boat. If you told me Nike had added an ankle monitor to their uniform I’d believe it. That’s because the Tigers don’t leave the state of Missouri until mid-October with their first six games of the season all being home games. 

All-SEC Teams 

Let me fill you in on a secret about filling out this ballot. This was my seventh time doing it, and I, admittedly, try to take it as seriously as possible. Filling out a first-team All-SEC ballot wouldn’t be very difficult. However, the system in place has every media person rank and submit up to eight players at some positions. 

This might come as a shock, but despite doing my best to stay informed on every team, player, and offseason change, I couldn’t tell you who the eighth-best offensive lineman in the SEC is. I think I know the top four to five, but after that I’m going to have to cheat a little and see what Phil Steele said in his magazine. 

My main point is try not to overreact or lose it if your team’s right guard was only on the third-team in the preseason. Some years I’m lucky if I even submit mine in time. 

Moving on, the All-SEC Team itself did have some surprises as one of the most absurd and comical results I’ve ever seen on the ballot. So, let’s start there. 

The entire first-team All-SEC Specialists were Georgia Bulldogs. Four players occupied all six spots. I have no opinion on the correct ranking of long snappers for the 2025 season, and most of the criteria for being first-team Punter is just being Australian, which UGA’s Brett Thorson is. So, I nailed it. 

The biggest surprise is at the first team quarterback spot. South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers was voted first-team over Garrett Nussmeier from LSU. Full disclosure, that’s exactly how I voted for them, and I would have been fine with either at No. 1 since both are at least returning starters. I would have admittedly lost my mind if Arch Manning or DJ Lagway were voted first-team.

Elsewhere on the offense, the only other surprise was at receiver. I had Ryan Williams and Cam Coleman as my first team selections. I did have Missouri’s Kevin Coleman at No. 3, followed by LSU’s Aaron Anderson, since they are the two returning players with the most receiving yards from a season ago. That being said I’m not surprised Coleman, who is the highest returning leader for receiving yards, was only on the third-team. I’m almost more surprised he made it at all since his last two schools were Mississippi State and Missouri.

Defensively the biggest surprise to me was that there were no Alabama players on the first team defense. Not because there was any one or several specific players who got snubbed. No, it’s shocking because it’s the first time in the history of the event that Alabama didn’t have a single player on the first team defense. 

The event started in 1985. 

That being said, it never even occurred to me because I think you can make a case for everyone else who did make the first-team. In fact, that’s almost exactly what I submitted for my ballot, except I included Ole Miss LB Suntarine Perkins and had South Carolina’s Jalon Kilgore over Daylen Everette. 

2025 Preseason Media Days All-SEC Team

OFFENSE

First-Team

QB – LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina

RB – Quintrevion Wisner, Texas

RB –  Le’Veon Moss, Texas A&M

WR – Ryan Williams, Alabama

WR – Cam Coleman, Auburn

TE – Eli Stowers, Vanderbilt

OL – Kadyn Proctor, Alabama

OL – Cayden Green, Missouri

OL – DJ Campbell, Texas

OL – Austin Barber, Florida

C – Jake Slaughter, Florida

Second-Team

QB –Garrett Nussmeier, LSU

RB – Jaydn Ott, Oklahoma

RB – Caden Durham, LSU

WR – Aaron Anderson, LSU

WR – Ryan Wingo, Texas

TE – Oscar Delp, Georgia

OL – Ar’maj Reed-Adams, Texas A&M

OL – Trey Zuhn III, Texas A&M

OL – Jaeden Roberts, Alabama

OL – Fernando Carmona Jr., Arkansas

C –  Parker Brailsford, Alabama

Third-Team

QB – Arch Manning, Texas

RB – Nate Frazier, Georgia

RB – Jam Miller, Alabama

WR – Eric Singleton, Auburn

WR – Kevin Coleman Jr., Missouri

TE – Jack Endries, Texas

OL – Earnest Greene III, Georgia

OL – Chase Bisontis, Texas A&M

OL –  Xavier Chaplin, Auburn

OL – Trevor Goosby, Texas

C – Connor Lew, Auburn

DEFENSE

First-Team

DL – Keldric Faulk, Auburn

DL – Dylan Stewart, South Carolina

DL – Colin Simmons, Texas

DL – Christian Miller, Georgia

LB – Anthony Hill Jr., Texas

LB – Whit Weeks, LSU

LB – CJ Allen, Georgia

DB – KJ Bolden, Georgia

DB – Michael Taaffe, Texas

DB – Daylen Everette, Georgia

DB – Jermod McCoy, Tennessee

Second-Team

DL – Caleb Banks, Florida

DL – Tim Keenan III, Alabama

DL – LT Overton, Alabama

DL – R Mason Thomas, Oklahoma

LB – Deontae Lawson, Alabama

LB – Harold Perkins, LSU

LB – Suntarine Perkins, Ole Miss

DB – Malik Muhammad, Texas

DB – Domani Jackson, Alabama

DB – Will Lee III, Texas A&M

DB –  Jalon Kilgore, South Carolina

Third-Team

DL – Tyreak Sapp, Florida

DL – Trey Moore, Texas

DL – Cam Ball, Arkansas

DL – Zxavian Harris, Ole Miss

LB – Taurean York, Texas A&M

LB – Arion Carter, Tennessee

LB – Princewill Umanmielen, Ole Miss

DB – Keon Sabb, Alabama

DB – Boo Carter, Tennessee

DB – Bray Hubbard, Alabama

DB – Isaac Smith, Mississippi State

SPECIALISTS

First-Team

P – Brett Thorson, Georgia

PK – Peyton Woodring, Georgia

LS – Beau Gardner, Georgia

KS – Peyton Woodring, Georgia

RS – Zachariah Branch, Georgia

AP – Zachariah Branch, Georgia

Second-Team

P – Jack Bouwmeester, Texas

*PK – Trey Smack, Florida

*PK – Lucas Carneiro, Ole Miss

LS – Rocco Underwood, Florida

KS – Trey Smack, Florida

RS – Barion Brown, LSU

AP –  Zavion Thomas, LSU

Third-Team

*P – Devin Bale, Arkansas

*P – Aidan Laros, KentuckyI’m 

PK – Alex McPherson, Auburn

LS – Ben Anderson, Oklahoma

KS – Will Stone, Texas

RS – Zavion Thomas, LSU

*AP – Eugene Wilson III, Florida

*AP – Jadan Baugh, Florida

* – Indicates a tie