GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida is the Southeastern Conference soccer coaches' pick to win the 2018 league title. The preseason coaches vote was released by the SEC Tuesday afternoon.
Points were compiled on a 13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, though each coach was not allowed to vote for their own team.
Florida is one of four SEC teams in the
United Soccer Coaches preseason national rankings – No. 5 South Carolina,
No. 7 Florida, No. 11 Texas A&M and No. 25 Tennessee.
The SEC led the nation in 2017 with an all-time high nine teams receiving NCAA Tournament bids –
Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. South Carolina defeated Florida 2-0 in NCAA Quarterfinal action to advance to the NCAA College Cup.
2018 SEC Coaches Preseason Vote
1. Florida
2. Texas A&M
3. Tennessee
4. South Carolina
5. Auburn
6. Arkansas
7. Mississippi
8. Alabama
9. Vanderbilt
10. Missouri
11. LSU
12. Mississippi State
13. Kentucky
14. Georgia
What the Gators Said:
"It's a big compliment because I think the SEC is really up. Last year we had so many teams in the NCAA Tournament. This year, all the teams are stronger. There's a very, very good contention of teams that can contend for the SEC title - no doubt about that. There will be no games off in the SEC." – Florida Head Coach
Becky Burleigh
"That's really awesome but it doesn't change anything. We're going to mainly care about ourselves. If other people think we're good then great, hop on board, but we're focused on us. If we think we're going to win then we're going to go out there and prove what we can do. But it's exciting to know that people see what we've been working on." – Gator senior goalkeeper
Kaylan Marckese
In 2017:
The Gators advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight and took third in 2017 SEC regular-season action with a 7-3 record.
Five Gators earned All-SEC honors in 2017. Two seniors collected their second All-SEC honors of their Gator careers -
Kristen Cardano and
Gabby Seiler. Florida returns three All-SEC performers in 2018 – defenders
Parker Roberts and
Rachelle Smith plus forward
Deanne Rose. Rose also was the 2017 SEC Freshman of the Year.
Season Opener:
Gator soccer kicks off a Florida Fan-tastic Weekend Friday at 7 p.m. with a home match versus the Pac-12's Washington. Soccer closes the weekend when Florida Atlantic comes to town for a Sunday match at 6 p.m.
All Gator home action is now at the
Donald R. Dizney Stadium and admission is free.
In between soccer's home openers are volleyball and football's fan days.
- Saturday, Aug. 18: Volleyball Fan Day – 2 p.m. in Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
- Sunday, Aug. 19: Football Fan Day – 2 p.m. in Indoor Practice Facility from 2-4 p.m.
Soccer's fan focused events for this weekend:
Friday, August 17 @ 7:00 PM vs. Washington -
The first 250 fans in attendance receive a FREE T-SHIRT. The 2018 team poster, schedule cards and magnets will be available on the concourse. Following the match, members from the team will be signing autographs on the concourse level.
Sunday, August 19 @ 6:00 PM vs. Florida Atlantic - It's Faith and Family Night at the Diz! Members from all local churches are invited to cheer on the Gators.
Click here to find complete details about Florida's Fan-tastic Weekend.
2017 Southeastern Conference Team Standings
| School |
SEC |
Pts. |
OVERALL |
PCT. |
HOME |
AWAY |
NEUTRAL |
| South Carolina^ |
9-0-1 |
28 |
19-3-1 |
.848 |
11-0-1 |
7-1-0 |
1-2-0 |
| Texas A&M% |
9-1-0 |
27 |
18-2-2 |
.864 |
8-1-2 |
6-1-0 |
4-0-0 |
| Florida |
7-3-0 |
21 |
17-7-0 |
.708 |
8-2-0 |
5-4-0 |
4-1-0 |
| Vanderbilt |
6-3-1 |
19 |
13-7-2 |
.636 |
5-3-1 |
7-3-0 |
1-1-1 |
| Tennessee |
6-3-1 |
19 |
15-4-2 |
.762 |
7-1-1 |
8-2-0 |
0-1-1 |
| Auburn |
4-2-4 |
16 |
8-7-5 |
.525 |
7-1-2 |
1-4-3 |
0-2-0 |
| Alabama |
4-5-1 |
13 |
12-8-1 |
.595 |
7-3-1 |
4-4-0 |
1-1-0 |
| Arkansas |
4-5-1 |
13 |
11-11-2 |
.500 |
5-5-0 |
4-5-1 |
2-1-1 |
| Mississippi |
3-5-2 |
11 |
10-7-3 |
.575 |
7-2-2 |
2-4-1 |
1-1-0 |
| Missouri |
3-7-0 |
9 |
8-12-1 |
.405 |
5-4-0 |
2-7-1 |
1-1-0 |
| Kentucky |
3-7-0 |
9 |
8-12-0 |
.400 |
5-6-0 |
3-5-0 |
0-1-0 |
| Mississippi State |
2-5-3 |
9 |
9-5-4 |
.611 |
7-2-3 |
2-3-1 |
0-0-0 |
| LSU |
1-6-3 |
6 |
8-7-3 |
.528 |
6-4-1 |
2-3-2 |
0-0-0 |
| Georgia |
0-9-1 |
1 |
4-12-2 |
.278 |
2-7-0 |
2-5-2 |
0-0-0 |
