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2026 Season Lookahead: Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate Could Be Anything But Clean

By Greg Poole

Georgia closes the regular season Nov. 28 against Georgia Tech in Athens, and there is no need to dress this one up. Rivalry week is rivalry week. Records matter, but only until the first bad angle, missed assignment or gadget play turns the afternoon into a county fair with shoulder pads.

Georgia should be the better team. The Bulldogs should have more depth, more defensive size and more ways to win. But Georgia Tech has made this rivalry more uncomfortable in recent years, and Georgia cannot treat the Yellow Jackets like a ceremonial final exam. This game can bite. It has teeth, and it knows where the soft tissue is.

The biggest challenge for Georgia’s defense will be discipline. Tech can stress space, tempo and eye control. The Bulldogs need their linebackers and defensive backs to play with patience. Overpursuit is the enemy. Missed tackles are invitations. Georgia cannot allow manageable gains to become explosives because someone tried to make the hero play instead of the correct play.

Offensively, Georgia should be able to create advantages if the line of scrimmage holds. The Bulldogs can use Nate Frazier’s speed, Chauncey Bowens’ power and a deep tight end group to make Tech defend multiple personnel looks. Gunner Stockton’s job is to avoid the rivalry-game turnover that changes the temperature. If Georgia protects the ball, it should score enough.

The emotional piece matters. Senior-day energy, playoff positioning and rivalry tension can create a weird mix. Georgia needs to start fast enough to make Tech chase the game. The longer the Yellow Jackets hang around, the more belief enters the building, and belief is basically gasoline with a fight song.

This should be competitive, but Georgia’s defense should eventually force the stops that matter. The Bulldogs’ offensive depth should wear down Tech in the second half, and Woodring’s kicking gives Georgia comfort if drives stall. It may not be pretty. It does not need to be. Against Tech, pretty is optional. Winning is the family business.

Prediction: Georgia 35, Georgia Tech 24.

Daniel Jackson, Joey Volchko and Rylan Lujo Selected in Major League Baseball Draft

By: Georgia Sports Communications

University of Georgia catcher Daniel Jackson, pitcher Joey Volchko and outfielder Rylan Lujo were selected on the first day of the 2026 Major League Baseball Draft held Saturday in Philadelphia.

Jackson was selected with the 37th overall pick by the Colorado Rockies. With the 77th pick, Volchko’s name was called as the White Sox used their third-round selection. The Los Angeles Angels selected Lujo with the 109th pick of the fourth round.

Jackson, a 6-2, 200-pound native of Sandy Springs, Ga., swept every major honor this past season, winning the Golden Spikes Award, the Dick Howser Trophy, the Buster Posey Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award and the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award. The consensus National Player of the Year and first-team All-American became just the third Division I player and the first catcher to register at least 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases in a season. He was only the third player in Southeastern Conference (SEC) history to capture the Triple Crown, as he led the league with a .379 batting average, 32 home runs and a school-record 87 RBI and was 26-for-28 in stolen-base attempts. He led the nation with 212 total bases and 88 runs scored plus finished second in hits (100), home runs and RBI. He fielded .997 in 593 total chances with just two errors and threw out 34 percent of base stealers. Jackson began his career at Wofford (.357-12-69 in 56 games) and spent the past two seasons developing at Georgia.

A 6-4, 225-pound native of Visalia, Calif., Volchko served as the staff ace and earned third-team All-America honors from the NCBWA. He tied for the SEC lead in wins, going 11-2 with a 3.68 ERA in 18 starts covering 95.1 innings. He tallied 119 strikeouts and 46 walks. He made the College World Series All-Tournament Team after a career-best performance on the sport’s biggest stage. Volchko tossed a complete game with 15 strikeouts in a 7-1 win over No. 5 Texas. It was the most strikeouts and fifth ever complete game by a Bulldog in a CWS start. Volchko spent his first two seasons at Stanford, going 5-5 with a 5.89 ERA in 35 games, including 21 starts, over 113 innings.

A 6-2, 192-pound sophomore outfielder/infielder from Coconut Creek, Fla., Lujo appeared in 60 games with 55 starts, including 52 in center field, during his first season with the Bulldogs. A first team All-SEC selection, he batted .358 with 16 doubles, 14 home runs and 49 RBI while fielding .991. He batted .394 in SEC action, a team-best, and was selected to the SEC All-Tournament team. He ranked second on the team with 25 multi-hit games, was 13-for-14 in stolen-base attempts, and had an 18-game hitting streak. Lujo starred for Dayton as a freshman in 2025, hitting .361-9-56 with 17 stolen bases in 21 attempts.
In 2026, Georgia won a school-record 53 games (53-14), finished third at the College World Series, and captured the Southeastern Conference regular-season and tournament titles. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 3 by consensus in the final national top 25 polls.
The Bulldogs have a string of 52 straight seasons in which at least one player signed a professional contract. Also, Georgia has had at least one player drafted each year going back to 1987.

The 2026 MLB Draft will conclude Sunday with rounds 5-20 beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET with coverage available on MLB.com, MLB TV and MLB+. Saturday’s first day of the draft featured four rounds and 135 total picks. The first 37 picks consisted of 25 selections in the first round, followed by three prospect promotion incentive picks (Atlanta, New York Mets, Houston) plus nine selections in Competitive Balance Round A before the second round began.

MLB teams have until Monday, July 27 at 5 p.m. ET to agree to deals with players they draft out of four-year colleges and high schools. If a draft pick doesn’t sign and attends junior college (juco), they have a draft-and-follow option where they can sign following the end of their juco season and up until the week before the beginning of next year’s Draft for up to $225,000.

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