Just Baseball’s 2026 SEC Conference Awards

On its quest to win a seventh College World Series in a row, the SEC is likely to send 12 teams to the 2026 NCAA Tournament. To no surprise, the conference is once again crammed with first-rate talent.

Georgia has claimed the SEC regular season title for the first time since 2008. Leading the charge on the field for the Bulldogs is Just Baseball’s SEC Player of the Year, catcher Daniel Jackson.

Texas takes home the most hardware with four Longhorns cracking Just Baseball’s All-SEC Team. Sophomore left-hander Dylan Volantis earns Pitcher of the Year honors, while the outfield duo of Aiden Robbins and Anthony Pack Jr. claim Transfer of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively.

Both Georgia and Mississippi State have three Bulldogs on the team, while Florida and Texas A&M each have a pair. Seven teams in total are represented.

Following a tumultuous first season in charge, Texas A&M head coach Michael Earley helped guide the Aggies to a 39-13 regular season record and likely national seed. He just beats out Georgia’s Wes Johnson for Coach of the Year.

Below is a breakdown of each award winner, as well as a look at Just Baseball’s All-SEC Team and All-Freshman Team.

Just Baseball SEC Award Winners

Player of the Year: C Daniel Jackson, Georgia

To no surprise, Jackson takes home Just Baseball’s SEC Player of the Year honors after becoming the sixth player in Division I history and first catcher to put together a 25-home run, 25-steal season. The junior has burgeoned into one of the nation’s best players and now looks like a potential first-rounder in the upcoming MLB Draft.

Jackson transferred to Georgia from Wofford in 2025 and played a secondary role, filling gaps while showing flashes of potential. He made 36 starts at five positions, belting 14 home runs but hitting just .218 while striking out 30 percent of the time.

Head coach Wes Johnson made it clear that Jackson was ready to step into the primary catcher role this spring. The Dawgs knew the brawny 6-foot-2, 200-pounder was capable of producing, but he elevated his game to a level that now has him in Golden Spikes conversations.

Heading into the postseason, Jackson leads the SEC in hits (84), homers (27), RBI (77) and OPS (1.328), among other stats. He didn’t just feast on weak non-conference pitching and coast in league play, either. Jackson slashed .392/.486/.725 in 30 SEC games — all three stats are top-three in the conference.

Putting together the kind of season Jackson has while dealing with the wear-and-tear that comes from starting 45 games behind the dish is truly remarkable. His defense hasn’t suffered down the stretch, either. Jackson has etched his name into SEC baseball lore, and he’ll now look to lead UGA back to Omaha for the first time since 2008.

Pitcher of the Year: LHP Dylan Volantis, Texas

Dylan Volantis made an immediate impact in Austin as a freshman last season. The lanky lefty was one of, if not the most dynamic high-leverage relievers in all of college baseball, allowing just 11 earned runs over 51 innings, good for a 1.94 ERA, a .185 opposing batting average and 12 saves.

As a result, Volantis earned a slew of accolades, including multiple First Team All-American nods, as well as All-SEC and SEC Freshman of the Year honors. That’s a high bar to clear, especially considering the added pressure that was coming Volantis’ way as a sophomore.

Many expected him to make the move from the bullpen to the weekend rotation, and the Texas staff obliged. That transition has been burdensome on some of the top arms in college baseball in years past. Not Volantis.

Attacking hitters with a unique release point and devastating arsenal that’s buoyed by elite breaking balls, the 6-foot-6, 220-pounder has been a marksman on the mound all year long. Volantis totes an 8-1 record and 2.05 ERA — the best in the SEC by 0.45 points — across 13 starts.

He’s struck out 105 batters, the third-most in the league, and walked just 22. Volantis allowed multiple earned runs in just four starts all year and surrendered more than five hits just three times. Completing five innings 10 times, he’s routinely gone deep into games, taking some weight off the shoulders of the Longhorns’ bullpen.

Volantis started on Sundays for the first eight weeks of the season before a rainout led head coach Jim Schlossnagle to bump him up to Fridays for the last five weeks. In those five outings, he allowed just seven runs and struck out 48 across 30 IP.

The Thousand Oaks, Calif. native could very well leave The Forty Acres as one of the best pitchers in program history when his time as a Longhorn is all said and done.

Transfer of the Year: OF Aiden Robbins, Texas

Robbins entered this season as a classic “prove-it” transfer. The junior was outstanding in his two seasons at Seton Hall, mashing Big East pitching. In 2025, he slashed .422/.537/.652.

That was all well and good, but upon entering the portal and committing to Texas, the question became “Can Robbins do it in the SEC?”

Yes. Yes, he can.

The outfielder has looked the part from day one. After showing some serious flashes in the fall, Robbins got off to a scorching start at the plate this spring and hasn’t looked back. He’s got 24 multi-hit games under his belt and has thwacked 19 home runs.

The numbers — .348/.435/.697 with 53 RBI — speak for themselves, but Robbins has also produced some of the most memorable moments throughout the SEC this year. He’s got a knack for the clutch and has loved his time in the Austin spotlight.

Not the most impeccable outfielder, Robbins has shifted from center field to right at the tail end of the season. He’s had a couple of lowlights and highlights with the glove, but it doesn’t take away from the oomph he’s brought to the Longhorns. He feels like the face of one of college baseball’s clear-cut national title contenders.

Freshman of the Year: OF Anthony Pack Jr., Texas

Texas entered 2026 with lofty expectations, boasting a roster loaded with veteran prowess and impact transfers. Yet as the season has trekked on, it’s been a high-motor freshman sitting in the heart of the order that looks like one of Schlossnagle’s most trustworthy weapons.

No one is overly shocked to see Pack, a former high school All-American, find some success early in burnt orange, but it’s the rate of success that’s staggering. Playing in 51 of Texas’ 52 games, Pack’s .360 average leads the team, and his 1.038 OPS is third-best.

Playing his fair share of both corner outfield positions, Pack has hit third or fourth in the Texas lineup in 23 of the last 25 games. His at-bats have not been indicative of a freshman, either. Pack has walked 39 times and struck out just 32 times — less than 15 percent of his at-bats.

With his surprising maturity at the plate comes consistency and plenty of pop. Able to drive the ball to all fields, Pack has amassed 67 knocks, including a team-high 16 doubles and seven homers. While driving in 45 runs, he’s also stolen a team-high 20 bases.

His numbers only look better when you hone in on SEC play. Pack led the SEC with a .400 average in 29 league games and is one of nine players to boast an OPS over 1.100 in conference action.

The defense has been far from perfect in the corners, but what Pack has done at the plate far outweighs the occasional misplayed fly ball. He’s been an electric addition to the Longhorns and will be at the heart of their push to return to the College World Series.

Coach of the Year: Michael Earley, Texas A&M

Replacing Schlossnagle at the helm of Texas A&M was never going to be smooth sailing for Earley, but it’s hard to imagine a worse first year in charge. The Aggies entered the 2025 season as the consensus preseason No. 1 team in the nation, but a 30-26 (11-19 SEC) season saw it fail to make the Field of 64.

That’ll warm your seat up, to say the least.

If this season were to have gotten off to a poor start, College Station would’ve quickly become a pressure cooker begging for change at the end of the Earley era. A&M entered the year as the No. 20 team in Just Baseball’s preseason top 25 but was picked to finish 13th in the SEC by the league’s coaches. Expectations were not that high.

Yet, here the Aggies are, pushing for a top-eight national seed with a 39-13 (18-11 SEC) record and the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament. It’s a massive credit to Earley and the A&M staff that they were able to get the train back on the tracks this spring.

The Aggies are by no means short on talent. The three-headed monster of Gavin Grahovac, Caden Sorrell and Chris Hacopian is as dynamic as they come. That said, Hacopian has rarely looked 100 percent, adding a little more uncertainty to an infield that’s already had a pair of true freshmen man the left side all season.

A&M has also used the shortest pitching staff of any team in the conference, essentially leaning on seven average to slightly-above-average arms to navigate elite offenses for three games every weekend. It hasn’t been pretty, but it’s done enough to allow a wicked set of bats to take charge and win games.

Last season is no longer a talking point. Earley has A&M playing at a high, familiar level and could really make his mark in C-Stat with a quality postseason run in the coming weeks.

Just Baseball’s 2026 All-SEC Team