Vols picked third in East at Media Days

Tennessee placed a half-dozen members of its 2006 football team on the Media Days preseason All-SEC squad, the league office announced Friday.

Four of Tennessee representatives matched their selections from last week by conference coaches. Offensive tackle Arron Sears and defensive tackle Justin Harrell again were selected to the first team, while tailback Arian Foster and defensive back Jonathan Hefney repeated their second-team nods. Media members tabbed James Wilhoit as the second-team placekicker and Jonathan Wade a third-team defensive back.

This week?s 104 media voters in Birmingham predict a third-place finish for Tennessee in the Eastern Division. Florida and Georgia were a close 1-2 in the voting, with South Carolina, Kentucky and Vanderbilt rounding out the East.

Auburn is tabbed for tops in the Western Division and received 73 votes as eventual overall SEC champion, far out-distancing Florida?s 11. Following the Tigers in the West were LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Two individuals predicted Tennessee to win its 14th SEC football championship.