USC men picked seventh in SEC basketball preseason poll

South Carolina expects to be very improved this year.

The rest of the league expects it, too.

The Gamecocks were picked seventh in the SEC media preseason poll, by far their highest prediction since the league stopped its divisional format. USC was picked 12^th, 12^th, 13^th and 14^th the last four years, and hadn’t been picked higher than fourth in the SEC East since 2001.

With a five-man recruiting class led by McDonald’s All-American P.J. Dozier and many returning veterans from a team that scrapped its way to a winning record, Frank Martin’s fourth team is hoping to make some noise. The word has spread.

Kentucky was picked to win the championship, the 11^th time the Wildcats have been honored since the 1998-99 season. Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and LSU rounded out the top four, with top-rated LSU freshman Ben Simmons voted preseason player of the year.

No Gamecocks made the 12-man all-conference team.

PRESEASON MEDIA POLL

1. Kentucky

2. Vanderbilt

3. Texas A&M

4. LSU

5. Georgia

6. Florida

7. South Carolina

8. Mississippi State

9. Ole Miss

10. Auburn

11. Arkansas

12. Tennessee

13. Alabama

14. Missouri

PRESEASON ALL-SEC TEAM

First team

Danuel House, Texas A&M

Damian Jones, Vanderbilt

Skal Labissiere, Kentucky

Stefan Moody, Ole Miss

Ben Simmons, LSU

Tyler Ulis, Kentucky

Second team

Dorian Finney-Smith, Florida

Malik Newman, Mississippi State

Charles Mann, Georgia

Alex Poythress, Kentucky

Tim Quarterman, LSU

Alex Caruso, Texas A&M

PRESEASON SEC PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Ben Simmons, LSU

Follow on Twitter at @DCTheState

This story was originally published October 21, 2015 at 9:57 AM with the headline "USC men picked seventh in SEC basketball preseason poll."