The votes are in: how SEC media thinks South Carolina football will fare this fall

As one of the most polarizing teams in the conference this offseason, predictions for the 2024 version of the South Carolina football team are wildly inconsistent.

Because SEC Media Days were this week, that meant that the media personalities in attendance in Dallas had their opportunity to vote on what they believed the final SEC standings would be, and the Gamecocks weren't picked very favorably.

As was predicted by Shane Beamer during his time in front of a microphone, his South Carolina football team was picked to finish 13th out of 16 teams in the league.

One voter picked the Gamecocks to win the league, but because the Vanderbilt Commodores were picked as SEC Champs by two voters, perhaps the voting should be taken with a grain of salt. There also was a national media member in attendance who (after voting) spoke about the Gamecocks' quarterback situation as if he believed Luke Doty was the starter. Considering the fact that Doty is in his second year spending most of his time as a wide receiver, it shows how uninformed some of the voters are when casting their ballots.

The entire SEC preseason standings can be seen below (1st place votes are in parentheses):

1. Georgia Bulldogs (165)
2. Texas Longhorns (27)
3. Alabama Crimson Tide (12)
4. Ole Miss Rebels (4)
5. LSU Tigers (2)
6. Missouri Tigers
7. Tennessee Volunteers
8. Oklahoma Sooners
9. Texas A&M Aggies
10. Auburn Tigers
11. Kentucky Wildcats
12. Florida Gators
13. South Carolina Gamecocks (1)
14. Arkansas Razorbacks
15. Mississippi State Bulldogs
16. Vanderbilt Commodores (2)

South Carolina football fans largely expected a low preseason ranking, especially from the media. The Gamecocks will have plenty of opportunities for upward movement in the standings this season, much like South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris and his team did last season (picked to finish 14th, Carolina tied for 2nd in the SEC).

The SEC media also had the opportunity to vote for preseason All-SEC teams. Running back Rocket Sanders (2nd team), linebacker Debo Williams (2nd team), longsnapper Hunter Rogers (2nd team), defensive lineman Tonka Hemingway (3rd team), and defensive back Nick Emmanwori (3rd team) represented the Gamecocks on the preseason All-SEC squads.