JQuery IE6 Could not set the selected property

$.fn.setDropDownValue = function(valueToSet) {
if ((!this[0].options) || (this[0].options.length == 0))
return;

if ($.browser.msie && $.browser.version == 6.0) {
var open = '<OPTION value=/'';
var html = '';
for (var i = 0; i < this[0].options.length; i++) {
var opt = $(this[0].options[i]);
html += open + $(opt).val() + '/'';
if (opt.val() == valueToSet) {
html += ' selected';
}
html += '>' + opt.html() + '</OPTION>';
}
$(this).html(html);
} else {
this.val(valueToSet);
}
};