Oklahoma picked to finish 8th in 2024 SEC Preseason Media Poll

The votes have been cast and the results are now official. Oklahoma is picked to finish eighth in the SEC 2024 Preseason Media Poll.

Georgia is the overwhelming favorite to win the SEC title this season. The Bulldogs received 165 first-place votes to just 27 for No. 2 Texas, in the Longhorns' first season in the SEC, and 12 for Alabama, in its first season in 17 years without Nick Saban as head coach.

Oklahoma, which was voted the preseason favorite in the Big 12 in seven of the last 10 season, received a bit of a reality check with seven schools in the power-heavy SEC predicted to finish higher than the Sooners. And the kicker is, OU will play six of them in the course of the 2024 season.

It's hard to believe the Sooners don't feel disappointed, if not disrespected, by the results of the SEC media poll. These results are in line, however, with what college football experts have been projecting for Oklahoma this offseason in its first season in the SEC. The fact that the Sooners are ranked as a top-20 team this season in most every preseason poll is a telling indication of just how tough a task OU has ahead of it in the coming season.

OU has arguably the toughest schedule in the SEC if not the country, and there are lingering concerns about the offensive line, which is without all five starters from a year ago, and how well first-year starting quarterback Jackson Arnold will perform against elite SEC defenses. The Sooners clearly have a solid motive and the incentive to prove everyone wrong, but they will have to do it on the field.

The Sooners did pick up two Preseason All-SEC selections, though. Senior LB Danny Stutsman and senior S Billy Bowman Jr. were named the the first-team defensive unit for the coming season