Second choice

AUBURN | The Tigers are moving up -- at least in the eyes of reporters.

Auburn on Thursday was picked to finish second in the Western Division based on a survey of reporters attending Southeastern Conference Media Days. It was picked to finish fifth in 2013 and, of course, won the conference title in December.

The team also landed 13 players on the preseason All-SEC teams Friday.

Alabama was picked to win the league title with 154 of a possible 293 first-place votes. Auburn finished second with 75 first-place votes while South Carolina (32), Georgia (19) and LSU (9) followed.

"Last year, we weren't on anybody's radar. We snuck up on a lot of people," coach Gus Malzahn said Monday. "This year, we know we're going to be circled. We're talking about that with out players. At the same time, I feel like that's good pressure. We've got our program back to where it should be, where people … have us circled."

Quarterback Nick Marshall, wideout Sammie Coates and center Reese Dismukes were named to the first-team offense while lineman Gabe Wright and 'star' safety Robenson Therezie made the top defensive squad.

Here is a look at the other Auburn players who received all-conference recognition Thursday:

TE C.J. Uzomah (second team)

G Alex Kozan (second team)

RB Corey Grant (third team)

G Chad Slade (third team)

DE Carl Lawson (third team)

DL Montravius Adams (third team)

LB Cassanova McKinzy (third team)

CB Jonathon Mincy (third team)