SEC football predictions, preseason awards, all-conference teams

For the second year in a row, Texas will start the season as the preseason favorite to win the SEC football regular season title, according the USA TODAY Sports Network's predicted order of finish in 2026.

The Longhorns also led the way among the league's 16 member schools with five players selected to the preseason All-SEC team. Five other schools — Georgia, LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma and Mississippi — also had multiple players land All-SEC honors.

Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt were the only teams without an all-SEC preseason selection.

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Texas offensive lineman Trevor Goosby and Auburn linebacker Xavier Atkins were the lone unanimous first-team selections.

Here's a rundown of the preseason ballots, voted on by 15 members of the USA TODAY Network who cover the SEC.

2026 preseason All-SEC football team

• Offense
  • QB: Trinidad Chambliss, Mississippi
  • RB (2): Kewan Lacy, Mississippi; Ahmad Hardy, Missouri
  • WR (2): Cam Coleman, Texas; Mario Craver, Texas A&M
  • TE: Trey'Dez Green, LSU
  • OL (5): Cayden Green, Missouri; Drew Bobo, Georgia; Jordan Seaton, LSU; *Trevor Goosby, Texas; Wendell Moe, Tennessee
• Defense
  • DL (4): Colin Simmons, Texas; David Stone, Oklahoma; Dylan Stewart, South Carolina; Will Echoles, Mississippi
  • LB (3): *Xavier Atkins, Auburn; Rasheem Biles, Texas; Whit Weeks, LSU
  • DB (4): Bray Hubbard, Alabama; Ellis Robinson, Georgia; KJ Bolden, Georgia; Zabien Brown, Alabama
• Special teams
  • K: Tate Sandell, Oklahoma
  • P: Grant Chadwick, LSU
  • All-Purpose: RB/WR Ryan Niblett, Texas

*Unanimous selection

2026 preseason SEC individual awards

• SEC Coach of the Year: Steve Sarkisian, Texas
• SEC Player of the Year: QB Trinidad Chambliss, Mississippi
• SEC Newcomer of the Year: QB Sam Leavitt, LSU

Predicted order of finish for SEC football's 2026 season

First-place votes in parenthesis

1. Texas (9)
2. Georgia (6)
3. LSU
4. Mississippi
5. Texas A&M
6. Oklahoma
7. Alabama
8. Tennessee
9. Florida
10. Missouri
11. Auburn
12. South Carolina
13. Vanderbilt
14. Kentucky
15. Mississippi State
16. Arkansas

The All-SEC team, individual awards and predicted order of finish were selected by a panel of 15 writers who cover the league: Ryan Black (Courier-Journal), John Brice (USA TODAY), Kevin Brockway (Gainesville Sun), Adam Cole (Montgomery Advertiser), Jackson Fuller (Southwest Times Record), Colin Gay (Tuscaloosa News), Aria Gerson (The Tennessean), Sam Hutchens (The Clarion-Ledger), Lulu Kesin (Greenville News), Calum McAndrew (Columbia Daily Tribune), Sam Sklar (The Clarion-Ledger), Adam Sparks (Knoxville News Sentinel), Colton Sulley (The Oklahoman), Blake Toppmeyer (USA TODAY), and Marc Weiszer (Athens Banner-Herald).

Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.

To support Adam's work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SEC football predictions, preseason awards, all-conference teams