In a league with no shortage of individual talent, Florida's Thomas Haugh and Vanderbilt's Tyler Tannerbegin a new season in a tier of their own.
A poll of 15 experts who cover the SEC for the USA TODAY Sports Network selected Haugh as the league's preseason Player of the Year. He received eight first-place votes, while Tanner was the pick from five of our voters. They were the only two unanimous selections to our preseason All-SEC First Team.
Haugh averaged 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists as a junior. He helped Florida cruise to an SEC regular-season title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Gators are also this season's consensus preseason pick to win the league championship. They secured every first-place vote in our SEC predicted
order of finish
Tanner is coming off a sophomore campaign when he posted 19.5 points, 5.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game. Both players could have been first-round picks in the 2026 NBA Draft, but they chose to return to school.
Texas' Sean Miller reeled in preseason Coach of the Year. Our experts expect the Longhorns to take a step forward after reaching the Sweet 16 despite a 21-15 record.
Arkansas freshman phenom Jordan Smith Jr. — who could be the No. 1 pick in the 2027 NBA Draft — is the preseason Newcomer of the Year, while Florida's Rueben Chinyelu is the preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Chinyelu averaged a double-double with 10.9 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1 block per game.
Here are the preseason All-SEC teams, individual awards and predicted order of finish as chosen by the USA TODAY Sports Network:
First team
G *Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt
G Jordan Smith Jr., Arkansas
F *Thomas Haugh, Florida
F Milan Momcilovic, Kentucky
C Rueben Chinyelu, Florida
Second team
G Josh Hubbard, Mississippi State
G Aden Holloway, Alabama
F Juke Harris, Tennessee
F Alex Condon, Florida
C Matas Vokietaitis, Texas
Preseason Coach of the Year
Sean Miller, Texas
Others receiving votes: Mark Byington, Vanderbilt; John Calipari, Arkansas; Dennis Gates, Missouri; Todd Golden, Florida.
Preseason Player of the Year
Thomas Haugh, Florida
Others receiving votes: Alex Condon, Florida; Jordan Smith Jr., Arkansas; Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt.
Preseason Newcomer of the Year
Jordan Smith Jr., Arkansas
Others receiving votes: Juke Harris, Tennessee; Milan Momcilovic, Kentucky; David Punch, Texas.
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Rueben Chinyelu, Florida
Others receiving votes: Narcisse Ngoy, Auburn; Matas Vokietaitis, Texas.
Order of finish
- Florida*
- Texas
- Arkansas
- Tennessee
- Alabama
- Vanderbilt
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Texas A&M
- Georgia
- Auburn
- Oklahoma
- Mississippi State
- Ole Miss
- LSU
- South Carolina
*Unanimous selection
Poll participants: Andrew Abadie, Gainesville Sun; Ryan Black, Courier-Journal; CL Brown, Courier-Journal; Adam Cole, Montgomery Advertiser; Gentry Estes, The Tennessean; Jackson Fuller, Southwest Times Record; Aria Gerson, The Tennessean; Sam Hutchens, Clarion Ledger; Callum McAndrew, Columbia Daily Tribune; Craig Meyer, USA TODAY Sports; Sam Sklar, Clarion Ledger; Emilee Smarr, Tuscaloosa News; Colton Sulley, The Oklahoman; Stephen Thompson, Knoxville News Sentinel; Marc Weiszer, Athens Banner-Herald.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Preseason men's basketball All-SEC, awards for 2026-27 USA TODAY Sports Network
