Georgia picked to win 2026 SEC championship in preseason media poll

Georgia was picked to win the 2026 SEC championship in the preseason media poll, collecting 88 of 164 votes as the league’s annual media days unfolded in Tampa, Fla. Texas finished second with 57 votes, Mississippi third with six, and Texas A&M, Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU and Kentucky also received votes.

The result put Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs at the center of the conference’s opening frame for the season, with the SEC championship game scheduled for early December at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The league said the poll was cast by media members attending SEC Football Media Days, turning the vote into an early verdict on which roster and coaching staff look best positioned to survive the SEC’s long grind.

The numbers also showed how quickly the preseason race has hardened into a Georgia-Texas matchup at the top. Several outlets described the conference picture that way, and the poll reinforced it: Georgia held a clear edge, but Texas was close enough to keep the hierarchy from looking settled. That gap matters in a league where the top teams are expected to absorb injuries, road losses and the physical toll of a conference schedule that leaves little room for correction.

Georgia’s placement reflected more than reputation. The preseason vote signaled that voters see the Bulldogs as a team with high-end talent, coaching stability and enough returning production to stay in the title hunt. It also suggested a belief that Georgia’s depth gives Smart a better chance than most to survive the SEC’s weekly pressure, where even a narrow loss can reshape the standings and national conversation.

Still, the poll is hardly a guarantee. An AP-related review of preseason SEC picks found that since 1992, the media’s predicted champion has gone on to win the conference title only 10 times. That history gives the vote a familiar role in college football: it sets the first hierarchy, but it also creates the first target. Georgia’s No. 1 spot will now travel with every game, every injury and every mistake until the league returns to Atlanta in December.

The SEC’s media-days rollout also paired the championship vote with its preseason All-SEC team announcement, underlining how the conference uses the week in Tampa to lock in the opening storylines. For Georgia, the story is clear enough. The Bulldogs entered the season as the pick to win the league, and the burden that comes with that label is as much about proving the poll right as it is about beating the field.