The Texas A&M men's tennis team was picked to finish fourth in the Southeastern Conference this season, according to a preseason poll of the league's head coaches and announced today by the conference office.
Florida was picked to win the conference regular season title which is based on a 14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 vote. The top eight teams in the preseason poll all advanced to the NCAA tournament last year, including the Aggies run to the Final Four and an appearance in the quarterfinals by Mississippi State and Florida.
The complete results of the poll are as follows:
Team
Points
1. Florida
152
2. Mississippi State
148
3. Georgia
129
4. Texas A&M
121
5. Alabama
104
6. Tennessee
100
7. South Carolina
80
8. Vanderbilt
61
9. Ole Miss
55
10. Kentucky
46
11. Arkansas
42
12. LSU
36
13. Auburn
14
The SEC boasts a nation-leading seven teams listed in the Oracle/ITA Division I Men's National Team Rankings top 25 released today, including four in the top 15: Mississippi State (3), Florida (4), Texas A&M (9) and Georgia (12). The Aggies finished with a No. 4 national ranking a season ago, the highest ever finish by Texas A&M.
The Aggies, under the direction of head coach Steve Denton, return four letterwinners from last year's team that earned the SEC Championship with the school’s first undefeated league record in any sport and advanced to the NCAA semifinals for the first time in program history.
Denton also welcomes five freshmen who formed a recruiting class that was ranked No. 3 in the nation according to Tennis Recruiting Network (TRN). Additionally the Maroon & White welcome sophomore Hady Habib back from the 2017 SEC Championship team, Habib posted a 14-3 dual match record including a 10-1 mark in league matches.
Texas A&M is currently 1-0 after opening the spring season with a 7-0 win over Abilene Christian in California while also participating in the prestigious Sherwood Collegiate Cup. The Aggies make their first appearance at home Saturday at the George P Mitchell Tennis Center.
In addition to hosting the ITA Kick Off Weekend the Maroon & White will take on UTRGV at 9 a.m. Texas A&M will take on Western Michigan in the first round of the ITA Kick Off while Cal and Virginia are scheduled for the other half off the draw. Saturday's winners will face off on Sunday vying for a place in the ITA National Team Indoors in Chicago on February 15-18.
General admission seating is free at all regular-season men's and women's home matches this season.
