The McNeese Cowboys men’s basketball team was ranked 10th in the CollegeInsider.com Preseason Mid-Major Top 25, the publication announced on Monday.
The poll recognizes the top basketball teams that play in the “Mid-Major” conferences. Gonzaga is ranked first in the poll.
The Cowboys are coming off of a 30-4 season in Will Wade’s first in charge. They won the Southland Conference in both the regular season and the postseason tournament, earning themselves an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
McNeese fell in the first round to aforementioned Gonzaga, but still made the “Big Dance” for the first time in 22 seasons, breaking multiple other program records along the way.
This season, the Cowboys were already picked to repeat as SLC champions. In addition, they had five players selected as preseason All-SLC performers, including two returning players and three newcomers.
Wade and company will open up the 2024-25 campaign on Monday, November 4th as they play face South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits also received votes in the mid-major poll.
The entire CollegeInsider.com 2024-25 Preseason Mid-Major Top 25 Poll is as follows:
- Gonzaga, 775
- Grand Canyon, 682
- Princeton, 641
- Bradley, 634
- Saint Mary’s, 630
- Vermont, 534
- Northern Iowa, 530
- Santa Clara, 478
- High Point, 447
- McNeese, 423
- Ohio, 414
- UC Irvine, 411
- Yale, 403
- San Francisco, 333
- Louisiana Tech, 284
- Towson, 263
- Arkansas State, 239
- Milwaukee, 206
- Toledo, 164
- Samford, 160
- Purdue Fort Wayne, 157
- Kansas City, 153
- Little Rock, 128
- Lipscomb, 92
- Western Kentucky, 88
Others Receiving Votes: Charleston 83, Liberty 81, UC Santa Barbara 72, Akron 51, Norfolk State 47, Kent State 46, James Madison 39, Colgate 34, Appalachian State 29, Wofford 26, Sam Houston 24, Northern Kentucky 23, Oakland 23, Seattle 23, Montana 21, Murray State 21, ETSU 19, Grambling 19, Troy 19, Drake 18, Quinnipiac 18, UT Arlington 15, UNCW 11, Furman 10, South Dakota State 10, Chattanooga 8, Harvard 8, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 7, UC Davis 6, Howard 6, UMass Lowell 5, Weber State 5, Winthrop 5, Middle Tennessee 3, Austin Peay 2, Central Connecticut 1, Indiana State 1, North Alabama 1.