The SEC announced its predicted order of finish by the media voters on Friday.

Georgia was picked to finish first in the league, ahead of Texas and Ole Miss. The Bulldogs earned 88 first-place votes, while the Longhorns came in with 57. Those were the only schools with double-digit first-place votes.

The Bulldogs have beaten Texas three times in the previous two seasons. Georgia and Texas are not scheduled to play each other this season. The earliest the two SEC heavyweights could meet would be in the SEC championship game.

Georgia defeated Texas 22-19 in the 2024 SEC Championship Game.

The Bulldogs have won the SEC in each of the previous two seasons. Last season, Georgia was voted to finish second in the league behind Texas. Georgia ended up beating Alabama in the SEC championship game.

The last team to win three straight SEC championships was Alabama, which did so from 2014 through 2016. Georgia has never won three consecutive SEC football titles in program history.

Of course, Georgia knows it will be judged by much more than how it does in SEC play. The Bulldogs have won the SEC championship in each of the previous two seasons, only to then lose their first College Football Playoff game.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart knows there will be no excuses this season. Winning an SEC championship is nice, but going further in the College Football Playoff is just as significant.

“I mean, you look at those two games, I don’t look at them as, oh God, there’s something wrong,” Smart told reporters this week. “I look at it more of how do we keep the continuity of going with what we do.”

Georgia will be led by quarterback Gunner Stockton, who returns for his second season as the team’s starter.

Stockton is not the only returning starter, as Arch Manning of Texas and Trinidad Chambliss of Ole Miss also return. It will be just as imperative as ever that the defense plays well for Georgia.

The Bulldogs open the 2026 season on Sept. 5 when they take on Tennessee State. Georgia’s first SEC game will be on Sept. 19, when it visits Arkansas.

You can see the full SEC predicted order of finish below.

2026 SEC predicted order of finish