July 28, 2006
Birmingham, Ala. – South Carolina wide receiver Sidney Rice and cornerback Fred Bennett were both voted to the Preseason First-Team All-SEC Football Team by the league’s media, it was announced today.
Preseason honors have poured in for both players this year, as Rice is on nearly everyone’s short list of top wide receivers in the nation heading into the 2006 campaign. The redshirt sophomore from Gaffney, S.C., exploded onto the scene in 2005, making 70 receptions and establishing new school records with 1,143 receiving yards and 13 touchdown catches. Rice posted six 100-yard receiving games as a redshirt freshman and found the end zone in each of his first eight games played at the collegiate level.
Bennett, who was tabbed as the top cornerback in the nation heading into 2006 by College Football News, is expected to provide solid leadership for a young Carolina defense this season after earning honorable mention all-SEC honors a year ago. A native of Manning, S.C., Bennett has appeared in every game during the last three seasons, picking off seven passes and posting 13 pass breakups. His 10 pass breakups in 2005 ranked third in the SEC.
In addition, the conference media predicted the Gamecocks to finish fourth in the SEC East this year, trailing Eastern Division favorite Florida, then Georgia and Tennessee, but coming in ahead of Kentucky and Vanderbilt, respectively. Auburn was predicted to win the Western Division, followed by LSU, Alabama and Arkansas, with Ole Miss and Mississippi State rounding out the list. Auburn was also tabbed to win the SEC Championship by the media.
2006 SEC MEDIA DAYS PRE-SEASON ALL-SEC FOOTBALL TEAM
FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC — OFFENSE
Pos. Name
TE Martrez Milner (35) – Georgia
OL Arron Sears (95) – Tennessee
OL Will Arnold (72) – LSU
OL Daniel Inman (69) – Georgia
OL Tim Duckworth (65) – Auburn
C Nick Jones (73) – Georgia
WR Sidney Rice (94) – South Carolina
WR Earl Bennett (49) – Vanderbilt
QB Chris Leak (69) – Florida
RB Kenny Irons (84) – Auburn
RB Darren McFadden (59) – Arkansas
SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC — OFFENSE
Pos. Name
TE Jacob Tamme (33) – Kentucky
OL Brian Stamper (49) – Vanderbilt
OL Michael Oher (14) – Ole Miss
OL Ben Grubbs (13) – Auburn
OL Brian Anderson (7) – Miss. State
C Antoine Caldwell (27) – Alabama
WR Dallas Baker (19) – Florida
WR Courtney Taylor (16) – Auburn
QB Brandon Cox (21) – Auburn
RB Kenneth Darby (52) – Alabama
RB Arian Foster (7) – Tennessee
THIRD-TEAM ALL-SEC — OFFENSE
Pos. Name
TE Cole Bennett (14) – Auburn
OL Zac Tubbs (6) – Arkansas
OL Robert Felton (5) – Arkansas
OL Stephen Parker (3) – Arkansas
OL Brian Johnson (3) – LSU
C Joe Cope (3) – Auburn
WR Dwayne Bowe (13) – LSU
WR Marcus Monk (5) – Arkansas
QB JaMarcus Russell (10) – LSU
RB Rafael Little (2) – Kentucky
RB Thomas Brown (2) – Georgia
FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC — DEFENSE
Pos. Name
DL Quentin Moses (91) – Georgia
DL Justin Harrell (64) – Tennessee
DL Marcus Thomas (41) – Florida
LB Patrick Willis (98) – Ole Miss
LB Sam Olajubutu (80) – Arkansas
LB Brandon Siler (79) – Florida
LB Will Herring (40) – Auburn
DB LaRon Landry (89) – LSU
DB Fred Bennett (68) – South Carolina
DB David Irons (61) – Auburn
DB Ramzee Robinson (51) – Alabama
SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC — DEFENSE
Pos. Name
DL Quentin Groves (25) – Auburn
DL Keith Jackson (20) – Arkansas
DL Marquies Gunn (18) – Auburn
LB Juwan Simpson (25) – Alabama
LB Jarvis Jackson (14) – Georgia
LB Quinton Culberson (13) – Miss. State
LB Ali Highsmith (13) – LSU
DB Tra Battle (35) – Georgia
DB Reggie Nelson (29) – Florida
DB Jonathan Hefney (16) – Tennessee
DB Jeramie Johnson (13) – Miss. State
THIRD-TEAM ALL-SEC — DEFENSE
Pos. Name
DL Chase Pittman (9) – LSU
DL Jarvis Moss (9) – Florida
DL Ray McDonald (8) – Florida
LB Earl Everett (12) – Florida
LB Tony Taylor (12) – Georgia
LB Jonathan Goff (10) – Vanderbilt
LB Wesley Woodyard (7) – Kentucky
DB Chevis Jackson (11) – LSU
DB Simeon Castille (8) – Alabama
DB Jessie Daniels (6) – LSU
DB Jonathan Wade (6) – Tennessee
FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC — SPECIAL TEAMS
Pos. Name
PK Brandon Coutu (74) – Georgia
P Kody Bliss (70) – Auburn
RS Rafael Little (59) – Kentucky
SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC — SPECIAL TEAMS
Pos. Name
PK James Wilhoit (12) – Tennessee
P Gordon Ely-Kelso (16) – Georgia
RS Felix Jones (30) – Arkansas
THIRD-TEAM ALL-SEC — SPECIAL TEAMS
Pos. Name
PK Jamie Christensen (9) – Alabama
P Chris Jackson (6) – LSU
RS Tyrone Prothro (4) – Alabama
SEC PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
(Tabulated on a 1-2-3-4-5-6 scale) [104 total voters]
SEC CHAMPION – Auburn 73, Florida 11, Georgia 7, LSU 6, Alabama 5, Tennessee 2.
Eastern Division (First Place Votes in Parenthesis)
1. Florida (49) – 179
2. Georgia (42) – 200
3. Tennessee (9) – 303
4. South Carolina (4) – 362
5. Kentucky – 545
6. Vanderbilt – 595
Western Division (First Place Votes in Parenthesis)
1. Auburn (87) – 129
2. LSU (12) – 217
3. Alabama (5) – 348
4. Arkansas – 364
5. Ole Miss – 550
6. Mississippi State – 576
