The countdown to college basketball is officially underway, as national media had their first glimpse of the Southeastern Conference at SEC Basketball Media Day on Thursday in Birmingham, Ala.LSU women’s basketball coach Van Chancellor and senior guard Allison Hightower addressed the media after voters picked the Lady Tigers to win the conference.”We are going to go as far as our offense will carry us,” Chancellor said. “We have a team that plays hard. I really like it. It is a lot of fun to be around.”The Lady Tigers are the league favorites for the first time in the media poll’s 20-year history.The team hopes to continue its momentum from last season’s fast finish, when it won five-straight games to close out the regular season and advanced to the second round of both the SEC and NCAA tournaments.”They understand what it is like going on the road in the SEC,” Chancellor said of his players. “They have a good concept of the ideas of what we are doing and what we are about.”LSU returns four starters — led by Hightower — after suffering growing pains in last year’s 19-11 campaign.”We struggled a little bit in the beginning last year,” Hightower said. “We picked it up at the end of the year and were able to build great team chemistry. We hope to continue to have the success that we did at the end of last season.”Hightower was the lopsided favorite for preseason SEC Player of the Year and was selected first-team All-SEC on Tuesday. Sophomore forward LaSondra Barrett joined Hightower for preseason honors, as she was selected second-team All-SEC.”People have a lot of confidence in us. We want to continue to work hard and not really worry about the preseason rankings right now,” Hightower said.The defending SEC champion LSU men’s team didn’t meet with as much fanfare, as Kentucky dominated the proceedings after hiring John Calipari and bringing in the nation’s best recruiting class during the offseason.”We don’t feel slighted at all,” said LSU senior forward Tasmin Mitchell. “They have the No. 1 recruiting class and a good coach coming in. Of course the media is going to talk about them. We do not feel intimidated or neglected at all.”Mitchell made the trip to Birmingham with LSU men’s coach Trent Johnson after media selected the Tigers to finish fourth in the SEC West on Tuesday.Kentucky failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time in 18 years last season but has been predicted as the runaway favorite for league champion after hiring Calipari from Memphis. The return of junior forward Patrick Patterson, who was selected as preseason Player of the Year, is a big boost to the Wildcats’ resurgence.The addition of highly touted freshman guard John Wall doesn’t hurt either. Wall was selected second-team All-SEC without playing a minute for Kentucky.The Tigers’ own low standing — just one year removed from winning the regular season conference title — likely has a lot to do with Johnson’s task of effectively replacing three senior starters.”We were a very good team last year and should be a very good team again this season,” Johnson said. “For me and the players, we are just looking forward to the challenges that this league presents.”Mitchell, himself a fifth-year senior, will be paramount to bringing along a young LSU team. He was selected preseason second-team All-SEC after averaging 16.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game last season.”This is a whole new team,” Mitchell said. “We lost some great guys last year, but this is another team. We are trying to make our own identity.”- – – -Contact David Helman at [email protected]