LEAD STORY: Missouri Lands Four on Coaches' Preseason All-SEC Team
The SEC coaches released their preseason All-SEC teams Wednesday afternoon, and Missouri came away with four selections — headlined by first-team picks running back Ahmad Hardy and offensive tackle Cayden Green. The honors land two weeks out from the Tigers' September 3 opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Hardy earns the nod while recovering from an offseason injury, and his production made the choice easy. Per MUTigers.com, he ran for a Missouri-record 1,649 yards and 16 touchdowns with seven 100-yard games, becoming just the sixth player in SEC history to rush for 300 yards in a single game. The first-team All-American and Doak Walker Award finalist forced 97 missed tackles as a sophomore and piled up 1,186 of his rushing yards — 71.9 percent — after contact. Green, a Lee's Summit native entering his third season, repeats after a first-team All-SEC finish a year ago. He helped clear the way for the nation's No. 8 rushing offense (2,968 yards) while surrendering just two sacks across 362 pass attempts.
The rest of the Missouri contingent covers both ends of the roster. Long snapper Brett Le Blanc made the second team as the Tigers push for special teams improvement, deflecting credit to his coaches and saying he wants to make the kickers' jobs easier. Linebacker Robert Woodyard Jr., who spent four seasons at Auburn before transferring to Columbia, checked in on the third team after ranking second on the Auburn defense with 67 total tackles and drawing Pro Football Focus First Team All-SEC honors for 2025-26. Georgia, meanwhile, hauled in the biggest haul of all: eleven Bulldogs made the list, including four on the first team and three offensive linemen overall.
QUICK HITS
- Texas gets two on the Biletnikoff watch list. Wide receivers Ryan Wingo and Cam Coleman both made the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation's preseason watch list for the award given to the top FBS receiver. Both are juniors — Wingo returns as a Texas starter, Coleman arrived after leaving Auburn this offseason, where he also made the watch list a year ago. Texas hasn't produced a Biletnikoff finalist since Jordan Shipley in 2009.
- Arch Manning back on the Golden Arm list. The Texas quarterback landed on the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award watch list for the second straight year. The redshirt junior returns as the Longhorns' starter with a 12-3 record and 25 career appearances.
- Kentucky moves two future games to Week Zero. FBSchedules.com reports the Wildcats bumped their 2027 game against Murray State from September 18 to August 28, and their 2028 matchup with Eastern Illinois from Week 5 to August 26 at Kroger Field. The shuffle follows the NCAA's approval of a 14-week regular season beginning in 2027, which was finalized this week. Kentucky opens the current season September 5 against Youngstown State.
- Tennessee's Ayva Jordan headed to Poland. The U.S. Soccer Federation announced its U-20 World Cup roster Wednesday, and the Volunteers freshman forward was named one of four alternates who will join the pre-tournament training camp.
- Missouri sends two wrestlers to U20 Worlds. All-American redshirt sophomore Aeoden Sinclair and incoming freshman Yandel Morales will represent their countries at the U20 Freestyle World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, beginning Thursday.
- Georgia receiver room could get reinforcements. A potential fifth season for Cole Speer remains on the table to bolster a young Bulldogs receiving corps, and Drew Bobo's health was described in glowing terms following Saturday's scrimmage. Longtime Bulldog broadcaster Loran Smith is being inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame.
PORTAL WATCH
Kentucky picked up a commitment from Cole Marszalek, whose position was not listed in the available reporting. The Wildcats continue building out the roster ahead of the September 5 opener.
Elsewhere, the transfer market's fingerprints are all over Thursday's headlines. Cam Coleman's move from Auburn to Texas produced half of the Longhorns' Biletnikoff watch-list representation. Robert Woodyard Jr.'s Auburn-to-Missouri jump landed him third-team preseason All-SEC honors. And Florida transfer wide receiver Naeshaun Montgomery drew praise after Missouri's August 19 practice, taking reps with the first unit when Olugbode or Cayden Lee sit and projecting as one of the first receivers off the bench alongside Shaun Terry II. Interior defensive lineman Sterling Webb, who played his first two seasons at New Mexico State before transferring to Columbia in 2024, returns as Missouri's top interior pass rusher after logging 407 snaps, three sacks and 23 pressures — fourth on the team behind Zion Young, Damon Wilson II and Darris Smith.
RECRUITING BUZZ
No new high school commitments crossed the wire overnight. The one roster addition of note: Valade has joined Texas A&M football after reclassifying, moving up to the college ranks ahead of schedule.
GAMES TO WATCH
- LSU soccer vs. UCF, Thursday night at LSU Soccer Stadium — the Tigers' marquee home date of the week.
- Texas A&M soccer dropped a 3-2 decision at Texas State, the lone final score on the board from the last 12 hours.
- Texas volleyball opens its 2026 season in three days.
- U20 Freestyle World Championships begin Thursday in Bratislava with Missouri's Sinclair and Morales on the mat.
No football games are scheduled today. Missouri kicks off September 3 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff; Kentucky opens September 5 against Youngstown State.
