ATHENS, Ga. — After riding to a Southeastern Conference Championship title, Georgia equestrian received the top overall seed for the 2018 National Collegiate Equestrian Association National Championship, as announced by the NCEA Selection Committee, remaining the No. 1 team in the country for the 15th-straight week.

The nation’s top eight teams will compete for the 2018 NCEA Championship, set to take place April 18-21 at the Extraco Events Center in Waco, Texas.

Due to a change in the championship format this year, the top-eight overall teams (Western and Hunt Seat combined) are invited to compete. The NCEA Selection Committee determines and invites these teams based on a number of factors throughout the season.

Additionally, the newly expanded NCEA National Championship format will include a team-seeded bracket in an NCEA format competition for the four event titles. Event rankings are determined by statistics of regular season head-to-head competition.

As a team, the Bulldogs (11-1, 7-1 SEC) will take on No. 8 seed South Carolina on Wednesday, April 18. Georgia has defeated the Gamecocks in all three meetings this season, including a 16-4 defeat in the semifinal round of the SEC Championship.

Georgia was seeded first in Equitation on the Flat, Horsemanship, and Reining while earning a No. 2 seed in Equitation Over Fences. The Flat, Horsemanship and Reining squads will have a bye in the first round, while Fences will face West Texas A&M to start the competition.

Georgia has captured the most NCEA Overall Championships with six, coming in 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2014.

Georgia is coming off the program’s third SEC championship as the Bulldogs topped Auburn, 12-7, Saturday, March 31, to take the league crown. The SEC began sponsoring the sport in 2013.

The following NCEA Team, Event and Discipline champions will be crowned in Waco, Texas on NCEA Championship Saturday, April 21, 2018:

NCEA National Champion Team: 4 riders compete in each of 4 events per team
NCEA Event National Champions: 4 riders in each event
Equitation over Fences
Equitation on the Flat
Horsemanship
Reining
NCEA Discipline National Champions: highest combined point total from place finishes in events competition by discipline – must compete in both events of discipline to qualify
Hunter Seat
Western

HOW TO FOLLOW GEORGIA EQUESTRIAN: For complete information on Georgia equestrian, follow the team on its social media channels via @UGAEquestrian on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

NCEA National Championship Team Seeding:

GEORGIA
AUBURN
OKLAHOMA STATE
TEXAS A&M
SMU
TCU
BAYLOR
SOUTH CAROLINA

NCEA Event National Championships Seeding:

Equitation over Fences

TEXAS A&M
GEORGIA
AUBURN
SMU
OKLAHOMA STATE
SOUTH CAROLINA
TCU
UT-MARTIN
FRESNO STATE
SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
BAYLOR
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
DELAWARE STATE
MINNESOTA CROOKSTON
WEST TEXAS A&M

Equitation on the Flat

GEORGIA
AUBURN
OKLAHOMA STATE
TEXAS A&M
SMU
DELAWARE STATE
TCU
UT-MARTIN
FRESNO STATE
SOUTH CAROLINA
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
BAYLOR
SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE
WEST TEXAS A&M
MINNESOTA CROOKSTON

Horsemanship

GEORGIA
AUBURN
TEXAS A&M
OKLAHOMA STATE
TCU
BAYLOR
SMU
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
FRESNO STATE
UT-MARTIN
SOUTH CAROLINA
DELAWARE STATE
MINNESOTA CROOKSTON
WEST TEXAS A&M

Reining

GEORGIA
OKLAHOMA STATE
AUBURN
SMU
TEXAS A&M
BAYLOR
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
TCU
SOUTH CAROLINA
DELAWARE STATE
UT-MARTIN
FRESNO STATE
WEST TEXAS A&M
MINNESOTA CROOKSTON