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Fresh off notching its first NCAA Tournament victory in program history, the University of Alabama soccer team was voted fifth in the SEC 2022 preseason voting by the league’s 14 head coaches, announced Tuesday morning. 

The Crimson Tide returns its entire team from last year. Alabama also won its preseason exhibition against Vanderbilt, 3-1.

Preseason Coaches’ Poll

  1. Tennessee
  2. Arkansas
  3. South Carolina
  4. Auburn
  5. Alabama
  6. Georgia
  7. Vanderbilt (tied for sixth)
  8. Texas A&M
  9. Ole Miss
  10. LSU
  11. Mississippi State
  12. Kentucky
  13. Missouri
  14. Florida

For the 2021 season, Alabama was pegged to finish eighth in the league voting. It went 5-4-1 in SEC, 7-8-2 overall, including two wins over ranked opponents. 

In the NCAA Tournament it won at Clemson, 1-0, to advance to the second round, where it was bounced by BYU.

Over the past 11 years, every SEC program has made at least one appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Last season, the SEC's seven NCAA Tournament selections were the second-most among all conferences. Over the last seven NCAA Tournaments, the SEC has placed 47 teams in the event.

The SEC coaches' voting largely mirrored the recent United Soccer Coaches preseason rankings, which had four SEC teams in the Top 25. Arkansas was ranked eighth, Tennessee is 11th, South Carolina is 12th and Ole Miss 18th. Auburn is among the teams receiving votes.

Rank, School (First place), Points, 2021 record, Previous

  1. Florida State (5) 192 22-1-2 1
  2. Duke (2) 181 15-4-1 5
  3. BYU 178 16-5-2 2
  4. Virginia (1) 160 18-3-2 8
  5. Santa Clara 154 15-5-3 4
  6. Rutgers 151 18-4-2 3
  7. TCU 142 19-2-3 9
  8. Arkansas 137 19-4-1 6
  9. Michigan 132 18-4-3 7
  10. North Carolina 128 12-3-3 14
  11. Tennessee 124 20-3-0 11
  12. South Carolina 115 14-7-1 10
  13. UCLA 112 16-1-3 15
  14. Penn State 102 12-8-1 23
  15. Southern California 89 14-3-3 12
  16. Notre Dame 81 14-6-2 16
  17. Pepperdine 80 17-4-1 13
  18. Ole Miss 58 12-6-3 18
  19. Georgetown 47 14-2-6 22
  20. Washington State 41 14-3-4 17
  21. Stanford 38 13-6-1 NR
  22. Memphis 35 14-5-2 20
  23. SMU 27 12-5-2 21
  24. Xavier 26 16-3-1 19
  25. Clemson 16 12-7-1 NR

Also receiving votes: Wake Forest (14), Texas (11), Auburn (9), Samford (8), Purdue (4), Brown (3), Harvard (2), Wisconsin (2), Princeton (1)

The SEC season begins Thursday. Alabama opens at Florida Atlantic at 6 p.m. CT