Who else, but Florida?

The Gators were an overwhelming pick by the SEC media to win the Eastern Division and the overall league championship.

Tennessee was picked third in the East behind Florida and Kentucky.

Alabama won a close vote over LSU (16-13) as the top pick in the West. Interestingly, LSU, which reached the Final Four last season, received five votes to win the overall title while Alabama had three.

On the women's side, Tennessee was the unanimous pick to win the league championship, receiving 19 votes.

On the individual teams, Tennessee guard Chris Lofton was voted first-team All-SEC.

Candace Parker of the Lady Vols was a unanimous pick for player of the year and all-conference. On the strength of one vote, UT's Alexis Hornbuckle made second team.

As the defending national champions, the Florida men were an easy pick to wear the SEC crown. The Gators had three players voted all-conference, including Joakim Noah as conference player of the year. But that doesn't mean they face an easy task. Far from it, said Gators coach Billy Donovan.

"This is all preseason, pre-hype, pre-nothing,'' he said. "This is about this being one of the best basketball conferences in the country, if not the best.

"We proved last year all this (hype) doesn't make a difference. You have to go out there and play."

He didn't get much argument on the conference's strength from his coaching peers. Tennessee, for example, won the East last season. Yet UT coach Bruce Pearl thinks his team is about right as the third pick.

"After having a big season, you have to try and maintain a level of success and consistency,'' he said. "To gain respect, you to do it again and be consistent."

South Carolina did it again last season, repeating as NIT champions. That was good enough for the Gamecocks to be voted fifth in the East.

"The basketball is as good as the football in this league,'' South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. "And that says nothing bad about football. It says everything good about basketball.

"Look at last year. Florida wins the NCAA tournament. LSU is close. And then we win the NIT. Tell me another league that does that?"

For the Tennessee women, on the other hand, the first-place vote is an upgrade over their profile in the preseason national polls.

The pick likely is based on the perception of Parker as the league's top player. LSU's Sylvia Fowles, a 6-foot-6 junior center, will contend for that distinction. She was the other unanimous pick for all-conference and has added three inches to her vertical leap, bringing it to 27 1/2 inches.

LSU, which won the last two SEC regular-season championships, and Georgia were picked second and third respectively behind Tennessee.

Injury Report: Lady Vols athletic trainer Jenny Moshak said Parker would be back at practice today after spraining her ankle in Wednesday night's workout.

Moshak said freshman forward Nicci Moats also might return today after spending the last four days tending to her surgically repaired left knee.

Fellow freshman Cait McMahan is ahead of schedule in recovering from an arthroscopic procedure on her left knee last Friday, Moshak said. Still, Moshak said that McMahan will not play in either of UT's exhibition games (Nov. 1 and Nov. 5).

SEC Vs. Big East: The SEC will begin playing challenge games against Big East teams in December next year, commissioner Mike Slive said. It will be similar to the Big 10-ACC challenge that would match four teams from each conference in a two-day, head-to-head doubleheader.

Five Southeast cities are being considered by ESPN and the two conferences: Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham, Memphis and Tampa.

One of the venues will be in the South, the other in a Northern or Midwestern city (Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and New York are under consideration).

The dates have been set for Dec. 5-6, 2007; Dec. 10-11, 2008 and Dec. 9-10, 2009.