July 27, 2007

The University of South Carolina Gamecocks have been picked to finish fourth in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division by media voting at the 2007 SEC Football Media Days, concluded today at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala.

The Gameocks garnered 11 first-place votes and 272 total points to finish behind Florida (41-131), Tennessee (16-201) and Georgia (12-225) in the East. Kentucky (0-389) and Vanderbilt (0-462) round out the division.

LSU is favored to win the West Division and capture the SEC title, according to the media.

South Carolina linebacker Jasper Brinkley and placekicker Ryan Succop earned pre-season first-team All-SEC honors. Succop was also named to the second team as a punter.

Jasper Brinkley, a 6-2, 262-pound middle linebacker from Thomson, Ga., was a first-team all-league selected by the Associated Press in 2006 after registering a team-leading 107 tackles, including 85 solo stops. He was fourth in the league and 55th in the country in tackles, averaging 8.2 stops per game. Brinkley is on the Bronko Nagurski Trophy pre-season Watch List, which is awarded to the best defensive player in college football. He was also named pre-season first team All-SEC by the league’s coaches.

Ryan Succop, a 6-2, 213-pound junior from Hickory, N.C. handles both the Gamecocks’ punting and placekicking chores. He earned second-team all-league recognition by the SEC coaches last fall as a placekicker after connecting on 16-of-20 field goal attempts, including a long of 55 yards. As a punter, he averaged 43.6 yards per punt in 2006. He was named to the coaches’ pre-season All-SEC second team as both a punter and placekicer.

2007 SEC FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS PRE-SEASON ALL-SEC FOOTBALL TEAM (*-Ties / # – Unanimous vote / Number of votes in parenthesis) (80 total voters)

FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC — OFFENSE

Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown

TE Jacob Tamme (67) Kentucky 6-5 240 Sr. Danville, Ky.

OL Will Arnold (65) LSU 6-4 319 Sr. Gloster, Miss.

OL Michael Oher (59) Ole Miss 6-5 325 Jr. Memphis, Tenn.

OL Andre Smith (43) Alabama 6-4 348 So. Birmingham, Ala.

OL Phil Trautwein (28) Florida 6-6 298 Sr. Voorhees, N.J.

C Jonathan Luigs (58) Arkansas 6-4 307 Jr. Little Rock, Ark.

WR Earl Bennett (65) Vanderbilt 6-1 202 Jr. Birmingham, Ala.

WR Marcus Monk (27) Arkansas 6-6 220 Sr. Lepanto, Ark.

QB Andre’ Woodson (62) Kentucky 6-5 230 Sr. Radcliff, Ky.

#RB Darren McFadden (80) Arkansas 6-2 215 Jr. Little Rock, Ark.

RB Felix Jones (27) Arkansas 6-0 207 Jr. Tulsa, Okla.

SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC — OFFENSE

Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown

TE Cornelius Ingram (3) Florida 6-4 230 Jr. Hawthorne, Fla.

OL Chris Williams (21) Vanderbilt 6-6 320 Sr. Glynn, La.

OL King Dunlap (16) Auburn 6-8 312 Sr. Brentwood, Tenn.

OL Drew Miller (13) Florida 6-5 297 Sr. Sarasota, Fla.

OL Brian Stamper (6) Vanderbilt 6-4 300 Sr. Windermere, Fla.

C Antoine Caldwell (15) Alabama 6-4 288 Jr. Montgomery, Ala.

WR Percy Harvin (19) Florida 5-11 181 So. Virginia Beach, Va.

*WR Keenan Burton (17) Kentucky 6-2 195 Sr. Louisville, Ky.

*WR Early Doucet (17) LSU 6-0 207 Sr. St. Martinville, La.

QB Erik Ainge (6) Tennessee 6-6 220 Sr. Hillsboro, Ore.

RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis (26) Ole Miss 5-11 225 Sr. New Orleans, La.

RB LaMarcus Coker (7) Tennessee 5-11 205 So. Antioch, Tenn.

FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC — DEFENSE

Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown

DL Glenn Dorsey (78) LSU 6-2 299 Sr. Gonzales, La.

DL Quentin Groves (72) Auburn 6-3 254 Sr. Greenville, Miss.

DL Derrick Harvey (48) Florida 6-4 245 Jr. Greenbelt, Md.

LB Jasper Brinkley (75) South Carolina 6-2 262 Sr. Thomson, Ga.

LB Jonathan Goff (73) Vanderbilt 6-4 235 Sr. Lynn, Mass.

LB Ali Highsmith (58) LSU 6-1 226 Sr. Miami, Fla.

LB Jerod Mayo (37) Tennessee 6-2 230 Jr. Hampton, Va.

DB Simeon Castille (78) Alabama 6-1 189 Sr. Birmingham, Ala.

DB Jonathan Hefney (60) Tennessee 5-9 185 Sr. Rock Hill, S.C.

DB Chevis Jackson (51) LSU 6-0 190 Sr. Mobile, Ala.

DB Derek Pegues (46) Miss. State 5-10 196 Jr. Batesville, Miss.

SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC — DEFENSE

Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown

DL Titus Brown (14) Miss. State 6-3 250 Sr. Tuscaloosa, Ala.

DL Tyson Jackson (8) LSU 6-5 292 Jr. Edgard, La.

DL Wallace Gilberry (8) Alabama 6-4 264 Sr. Bay Minette, Ala.

LB Wesley Woodyard (36) Kentucky 6-1 212 Sr. LaGrange, Ga.

LB Prince Hall (14) Alabama 5-11 255 So. Moreno Valley, Calif.

*LB Darry Beckwith (5) LSU 6-1 232 Jr. Baton Rouge, La.

*LB Brandon Miller (5) Georgia 6-4 257 Sr. Colquitt, Ga.

DB Tony Joiner (30) Florida 5-11 217 Sr. Haines City, Fla.

DB Jonathan Zenon (8) LSU 6-0 176 Sr. Breaux Bridge, La.

DB Trevard Lindley (5) Kentucky 6-0 175 So. Hiram, Ga.

DB Jonathan Wilhite (4) Auburn 5-11 185 Sr. Monroe, La.

FIRST-TEAM ALL-SEC — SPECIAL TEAMS

Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown

PK Ryan Succop (39) South Carolina 6-2 213 Jr. Hickory, N.C.

P Britton Colquitt (64) Tennessee 6-3 205 Jr. Knoxville, Tenn.

RS Felix Jones (31) Arkansas 6-0 207 Jr. Tulsa, Okla.

SECOND-TEAM ALL-SEC — SPECIAL TEAMS

Pos. Name School Ht. Wt. Class Hometown

PK Brandon Coutu (35) Georgia 6-0 200 Sr. Lawrenceville, Ga.

P Ryan Succop (16) South Carolina 6-2 213 Jr. Hickory, N.C.

RS Rafael Little (18) Kentucky 5-10 195 Sr. Anderson, S.C.

SEC PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH

SEC Champion – LSU (54), Florida (7), Arkansas (5), Auburn (4), Alabama (3), South Carolina (3), Tennessee (2), Georgia (2).

Eastern Division (First Place votes in parenthesis)

1. Florida (41) 131

2. Tennessee (16) 201

3. Georgia (12) 225

4. South Carolina (11) 272

5. Kentucky 389

6. Vanderbilt 462

Western Division (First Place votes in parenthesis)

1. LSU (63) 110

2. Auburn (5) 205

3. Arkansas (5) 237

4. Alabama (7) 256

5. Ole Miss 430

6. Mississippi State 442