Matter's input:

Posted on: October 17, 2019 at 13:01:11 CT

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/mizzou-chat-dave-matter-live-at-a-m/article_7b1336f0-cda7-58ae-a285-c89ce1119049.html

Here's the unspoken reality of how these ballots come together: A bunch of writers who are completely consumed with football in October are asked to rank the teams 1 to 14. Some voters surely glance at last year's standings and last year's team stats and see that MU finished 12th and lost their leader in points, assists, steals, minutes, etc., and figured Martin's team is going to be worse, or at the least no better than last year. Mizzou fans are convinced Dru Smith is the second coming, but that hype hasn't extended to other SEC markets. Same goes for freshmen forwards Kobe Brown and Tray Jackson. I like MU's upside. They've got a chance to win 20 games and make it back to the NCAA tourney.

I am a voter for the AP Top 25 this year, and when I put together my preseason rankings, I start off by ranking each of the major conferences from top to bottom. Here's how I slotted the SEC teams:
1. Kentucky
2. Florida
3. LSU
4. Auburn
5. Mississippi State
6. Tennessee
7. Ole Miss
8. Missouri
9. Alabama
10. Georgia
11. South Carolina
12. Arkansas
13. Texas A&M
14. Vanderbilt

I could see Georgia and South Carolina being much better than where I ranked them. I could see Mississippi State and Auburn not being nearly as good as where I have them. UK and Florida will be very good. Vandy will struggle. That much I know.