Nine Gators placed on Preseason All-SEC Teams

Nine members of the Florida Gators football team were selected for 10 places on the 2013 Preseason All-SEC Teams on Thursday, as voted on by the media contingent in Hoover, AL, for the 2013 Southeastern Conference Media Days.

Florida had more than one player named to the First Team for the first time since 2010 as senior defensive lineman Dominique Easley, junior cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy and junior punter Kyle Christy each received top honors.

Joining them with Preseason All-SEC nods are Second Team members redshirt senior right guard Jon Halapio and junior CB Marcus Roberson. Sophomore running back Matt Jones, redshirt senior center Jonotthan Harrison, linebacker Ronald Powell and kick returner Andre Debose received Third Team honors. Purifoy was also placed on the Third Team as an all-purpose player.

UF had seven players named to the year-end 2012 All-SEC Team. Christy is the only one who remained in school as the other six graduated or left for the 2012 NFL Draft.

Florida’s nine selections matched Georgia for the third-most overall. Alabama had a whopping 16 Preseason All-SEC picks, and LSU finished second with 11.

It is the third-straight year that the Gators did not have a Preseason-All-SEC First Team representative on offense and the fourth-straight year Florida does not have an offensive playmaker on that list.

The media also predicted Florida to finish third in the SEC East; the Gators received 19 first-place votes compared to 149 for UGA and 75 for USC. UF did not receive a single vote to win the SEC Championship, though the media has not predicted the league champion correctly since 2008.

The SEC told OnlyGators.com on Thursday that the Preseason All-SEC Teams as selected by the league’s coaches have been pushed back for a mid-August release.