BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Georgia was selected as the 2026 preseason favorite to finish first in the SEC in a vote of the league’s coaches.
 

Georgia was slotted first in the projected order of finish, while Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and Vanderbilt round out the league’s top half. Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Arkansas and Missouri follow in the bottom half.
 

Five of the SEC’s projected top teams — Georgia, Texas A&M, Auburn, LSU and Oklahoma — are ranked among the top six nationally in the ITA preseason rankings, setting the stage for a competitive conference season. The Aggies are slotted second entering the 2026 season, a program that has claimed the 2024 NCAA title and finished as the national runner-up in 2025.

The Bulldogs are led by six preseason ITA-ranked singles players: Aysegul Mert (No. 8), Deniz Dilek (No. 15), Anastasiia Gureva (No. 25), Sofia Rojas (No. 50), Patricija Paukstyte (No. 55) and Anastasiia Lopata (No. 61), along with three nationally ranked doubles pairs.

 

Georgia will open it’s 2026 slate on Saturday, Jan. 24, at 1 p.m. ET, as the host of ITA Kickoff Weekend. Georgia will open SEC play on the road at South Carolina on Sunday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m. ET, marking its first test in conference competition.

 

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