The SEC preseason media poll is out just days prior to the first weekend of SEC football and South Carolina has been picked to finish fifth in the Eastern Division.
Florida is the pick to win the Eastern Division followed by Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and the Gamecocks. Missouri and Vanderbilt round out the voting.
In the Western Division, Alabama is the pick to win that division and the SEC Championship.
A trio of Gamecock football players were named to the preseason All-SEC teams as voted on by the media.
Senior offensive lineman Sadarius Hutcherson and junior cornerback Israel Mukuamu was named to the second team, while senior defensive end Aaron Sterling was named to the third team.
Hutcherson, a 6-4, 320-pound fifth-year senior offensive lineman from Huntingdon, Tenn., is the most experienced player on the roster, having appeared in 35 games, including 29 starts. A returning starter at left tackle, Hutcherson, who is on the preseason Outland Trophy Watch List, is slated to be the Gamecocks' starter at left guard, a position he has played extensively in his career.
Mukuamu, a 6-4, 205-pound defensive back from Bossier City, La., was an AP second-team All-SEC selection a year ago. He led the team with four interceptions, including three in the upset win over third-ranked Georgia. A starter in 14-consecutive games, Mukuamu was named to the 2020 Lott IMPACT Trophy and Jim Thorpe Award preseason watch lists.
Sterling, a 6-1, 245-pound senior defensive end from Atlanta, is coming off his best season as a Gamecock. He registered 40 tackles in 2019, including a team-high 10.0 tackles for loss, and 6.0 sacks, tying for 10th in the SEC. Over the last three seasons he has appeared in 33 games, making 15 starts, with 16.0 tackles for loss and 9.0 sacks.
