Ole Miss has been picked to finish fourth in the SEC this season in the league’s annual preseason media poll. The poll was voted on by participating media at this week’s SEC Media Days in Dallas.
Georgia — winner of two of the last three national championships — was picked to finish first. The Bulldogs were followed by Texas, who is in its first year in the SEC after making it to the College Football Playoff a season ago. Alabama, under first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer, was picked third.
The Rebels were voted to finish ahead of LSU (fifth), Missouri (sixth) and Tennessee (seventh). The Rebels received four first-place votes.
Ole Miss is coming off the first 11-win season in program history, which was capped off by a dominant win over Penn State in the Peach Bowl. The Rebels return several key pieces, including senior quarterback Jaxson Dart, and added the top-ranked transfer class in the country.
In addition to being picked fourth in the conference, senior wide receiver Tre Harris, senior tight end Caden Prieskorn, junior defensive tackle Walter Nolen, senior defensive end Jared Ivey, senior running back Ulysses Bentley IV and senior defensive end Princely Umanmielen were selected to preseason All-SEC teams.
Harris, Prieskorn and Nolen were first-team selections. Harris led the Rebels with 985 yards and eight touchdowns while Prieskorn was the Peach Bowl’s offensive MVP and finished 2023 with 449 yards and four touchdowns. Nolen, who previously played at Texas A&M, was one of the top-ranked players in the transfer portal and had four sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss for the Aggies in 2023.
Ivey was the defensive MVP of the Peach Bowl and was tied for the team lead with 5.5 sacks last season. Bentley ran for 540 yards and four touchdowns and will likely see a more prominent role in 2024, as Quinshon Judkins transferred to Ohio State. Umanmielen, who previously played at Florida, was another top-ranked transfer addition for Ole Miss this offseason. He led the Gators with seven sacks a season ago.
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