Auburn, Georgia picked to play in SEC title game

Auburn and Georgia are the choices to win their respective divisions and meet in the Dec. 5 SEC Championship Game, according to voters in the 69th annual AL.com/Birmingham News SEC Preseason Football Report — the league's 14 football information directors.

South Carolina was picked fourth in the SEC East and 11th overall in the SEC.

Auburn received three first place votes and three second-place finishes from the seven Western Division football information directors to top its division with 33 points, barely edging Alabama, which received three first-place votes, two second-place votes and one third-place finish for 32 points.

Georgia had an easier path in the East, gathering six first-place votes for 36 points. Missouri was second with one first-place vote, four seconds and one fifth for 28 points.

A school's football information director could not vote for his school in the polls.

Auburn hosts Georgia in the regular season on Nov. 14.

In the overall poll, Alabama was voted No. 1. With all 14 football information directors participating, the Crimson Tide received nine first-place votes, three seconds and one third for a total of 164 points.

Auburn, with three firsts, six seconds, two thirds, one fourth and one eighth-place vote, was runner-up with 149 points. Georgia was third with 145 points with its one first-place vote, three seconds, six thirds and three fourths.