Birmingham, Ala. – Kentucky was predicted to win the 2016 Southeastern Conference men’s basketball championship in voting by a select panel of both SEC and national media members.

The Wildcats are the overall preseason favorite for the 11th time since the 1998-99 season.

LSU freshman Ben Simmons was the choice of the media for SEC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. Simmons becomes just the second freshman chosen as preseason player of the year by the media, joining Kentucky’s Julius Randle in 2013-14. Florida’s Dorrian Finney-Smith, Kentucky’s Tyler Ulis, Texas A&M’s Danuel House and Vanderbilt’s Damian Jones also received votes in the Player of the Year voting.

House, Jones, Simmons and Ulis were each All-SEC First Team selections along with Kentucky’s Skal Labissiere and Ole Miss’s Stefan Moody.

Points were compiled on a 14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Each media member also voted for a five-player All-SEC Team. Ties were not broken.

The 2015-16 campaign begins November 13, with conference play set to begin January 2. The 2016 SEC Tournament will be March 9-13 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

 

First Team All-SEC

Danuel House – Texas A&M, G, 6-7, 212, Sr., Fresno, Texas

Damian Jones – Vanderbilt, C, 7-0, 245, Jr., Baton Rouge, La.

Skal Labissiere – Kentucky, F, 6-11, 225, Fr., Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Stefan Moody – Ole Miss, G, 5-10, 179, Sr., Kissimmee, Fla.

Ben Simmons – LSU, F, 6-10, 225, Fr., Melbourne, Australia

Tyler Ulis – Kentucky, G, 5-9, 160, So., Lima, Ohio

 

Second Team All-SEC

Dorian Finney-Smith – Florida, F, 6-8, 220, Sr., Portsmouth, Va.

Malik Newman – Mississippi State, G, 6-3, 178, Fr., Jackson, Miss.

Charles Mann – Georgia, G, 6-5, 215, Sr., Alpharetta, Ga.

Alex Poythress – Kentucky, F, 6-8, 230, Sr., Clarksville, Tenn.

Tim Quarterman – LSU, G, 6-6, 190, Jr., Savannah, Ga.

Alex Caruso – Texas A&M, G, 6-5, 186, Sr., College Station, Texas

 

SEC Player of the Year: Ben Simmons, LSU

 

Preseason Media Poll                 Pts

  1. Kentucky                                  406
  2. Vanderbilt                                357
  3. Texas A&M                              344
  4. LSU                                             333
  5. Georgia                                     266
  6. Florida                                       258
  7. South Carolina                        204
  8. Mississippi State                    203
  9. Ole Miss                                    184
  10. Auburn                                      168
  11. Arkansas                                   118
  12. Tennessee                                 86
  13. Alabama                                      85
  14. Missouri                                      33

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