Soccer Picked to Finish First in SEC West

By: TAMU Sports Information Department/Meredith Collier

Posted: Thu 5:10 PM, Aug 09, 2012

COLLEGE STATION, TX -- The No. 14 Texas A&M soccer team was picked to finish first in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference and to finish second in the SEC overall, as released in the preseason coaches’ poll by the conference office today.

The Aggies, who took their 12th-and-final Big 12 Championship in their last season in the conference, received 12 first-place votes for the SEC West and four for the conference as a whole. Florida was picked to take the Eastern Division and SEC titles with 12 and 10 votes, respectively.

Points were compiled on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for each division, though each coach was not allowed to vote for their own team. Each coach also voted for one team as an overall conference champion.

LSU was predicted to finish second in the West with a tally of 74 points. The Aggies earned 89 points in the poll, second only to Florida’s 90. Georgia and South Carolina, the 2011 regular-season champion, each earned 70 points and tied for second in the SEC East. Auburn, who won the 2011 SEC Tournament, took 73 points to sit at third in the Western Division.

The Aggies start the 2012 season at UC Irvine on Aug. 20 and will begin SEC play at LSU on Sept. 14. The 2012 SEC Tournament is set for Oct. 29-Nov. 4 in Orange Beach, Ala.
To learn more about Texas A&M soccer, log on to AggieAthletics.com and follow @AggieSoccer on Twitter.

Preseason Coaches’ Poll
(First-Place Votes in Parentheses)

SEC Champion: Florida (10), Texas A&M (4)

Eastern Division

Florida (12) 90
Georgia 70
South Carolina (2) 70
Kentucky 56
Missouri 42
Tennessee 38
Vanderbilt 19

Western Division

Texas A&M (12) 89
LSU (2) 74
Auburn 73
Alabama 53
Ole Miss 44
Arkansas 29
Mississippi State 23

Beede pitches Vanderbilt past Texas A&M, 3-0

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