Tennessee Tops SEC Preseason Poll; Place Five on All-SEC Preseason Team

Photo By Kate Luffman/Tennessee Athletics

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Tennessee, the defending regular season and tournament champion, has been picked to be the top program for the 2024 SEC softball season following a vote by the league’s 13 head coaches in the annual preseason poll.

Tennessee edged Georgia for the top spot in the poll as the Lady Vols received six first-place votes and 137 points and Georgia earned six first-place votes and finished with 136 points. Florida, which placed seventh in the poll, received the remaining first-place vote.

Following Tennessee and Georgia was LSU who placed third with 106 points, Arkansas was fourth with 103 points and Auburn rounded out the top five with 100 points.

Alabama was sixth in the poll followed by Florida, Texas A&M, South Carolina and Kentucky to round out the top 10. Missouri finished 11th in the poll while Ole Miss was 12th and Mississippi State finished 13th.

The Preseason All-SEC Team was also selected by a vote of the head coaches. Ten schools were represented on the team, with Tennessee leading the way with five selections. Georgia and LSU both had four, and Auburn, Florida, Kentucky and Missouri each had two. Arkansas, South Carolina and Texas A&M each claimed one preseason accolade. The Preseason All-SEC Softball Team consists of a minimum of 21 players.

Leading the Preseason All-SEC Team is Florida’s Skylar Wallace who was named the SEC Player of the Year in 2023. Maddie Penta of Auburn, who was chosen as the SEC Pitcher of the Year last season, earned a spot among the 21 players selected.

Jayda Kearney (Georgia), Sydney Kuma (Georgia), Sara Mosley (Georgia), Shelby Walters (Georgia). Erin Coffel (Kentucky), McKenna Gibson (Tennessee), Kiki Milloy (Tennessee), Zaida Puni (Tennessee) and Julia Cottrill (Texas A&M) were named to the preseason team after being selected to the 2023 All-SEC last season.

In addition to Gibson, Milloy and Puni, the Lady Vols also had Payton Gottshall and Karlyn Pickens named to the preseason team.

SEC teams are slated to begin the 2024 softball season on February 8, with conference play set to begin on March 8. The 2024 SEC Softball Tournament is scheduled for May 7-11 at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn, Ala.

2024 SEC Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll

RANK	TEAM (1ST PLACE VOTES)	POINTS
1	Tennessee (6)	137
2	Georgia (6)	136
3	LSU	106
4	Arkansas	103
5	Auburn	100
6	Alabama	88
7	Florida (1)	77
8	Texas A&M	75
9	South Carolina	68
10	Kentucky	53
11	Missouri	28
12	Ole Miss	24
13	Mississippi State	19