MSSU men's basketball ranked 21st in national preseason poll

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern men's basketball team will open up the regular season this Thursday night ranked No. 21 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Preseason Poll as announced by the organization today.

The Lions are coming off of a 23-8 season last year that saw the team make the NCAA Tournament before it was cancelled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Southern had recently been picked to finish second in the MIAA Men's Basketball Preseason Poll.

Northwest Missouri is a unanimous No. 1 pick atop the poll, while Washburn and Rogers State are both receiving votes. From the Central Region, Northern State comes in at No. 8, while Augustana is No. 17 and Sioux Falls is No. 23. The complete poll is listed below.

Southern opens up the regular season on Thursday night as the Lions travel to Central Oklahoma for a 7:30 pm tip with the Bronchos.


1. Northwest Missouri State 31-1 400 1
2. Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) 32-1 367 2
3. West Texas A&M 32-1 366 3
4. Indiana (Pa.) 28-2 318 6
5. Florida Southern 29-2 309 5
6. Nova Southeastern (Fla.) 23-6 295 20
7. West Liberty (W.Va.) 27-4 282 7
8. Northern State (S.D.) 26-6 255 17
9. Missouri-St. Louis 27-6 240 19
10. Queens (N.C.) 24-7 223 23
11. Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 25-4 195 8
12. St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.) 25-5 190 11
13. Colorado School of Mines 22-10 177 NR
14. Alabama Huntsville 26-5 165 12
15. Ferris State (Mich.) 27-6 152 16
16. Point Loma (Calif.) 24-6 137 24
17. Augustana (S.D.) 19-11 127 NR
18. St. Edward's (Texas) 27-4 264 9
19. Valdosta State (Ga.) 26-4 245 10
20. Fairmont State (W.Va.) 23-7 91 NR
21. Missouri Southern 23-8 84 21
22. Charleston (W.Va.) 25-6 80 NR
23. Sioux Falls (S.D.) 22-8 78 NR
24. Bridgeport (Conn.) 24-4 50 13
25. Southern Indiana 22-8 47 NR

Records final from 2020-21 season. 

Last ranking is from final poll of 2020-21 season.

First place votes - Northwest Missouri State (16).

Others receiving votes: Augusta (Ga.) 37, Truman State (Mo.) 33, Saint Anselm (N.H.) 25, Southern Nazarene (Okla.) 25, Chico State (Calif.) 24, Findlay (Ohio) 24, Seattle Pacific (Wash.) 22, UNC Pembroke 22, Angelo State (Texas) 20, Indianapolis (Ind.) 17, Mercyhurst (Pa.) 16, Lubbock Christian (Texas) 13, Miles (Ala.) 13, Washburn (Kan.) 12, DBU (Texas) 11, Jefferson (Pa.) 9, Shippensburg (Pa.) 9, Biola (Calif.) 7, Cal Poly Pomona 6, Black Hills State (S.D.) 4, Western Oregon 4, Minnesota State 3, Concordia (Calif.) 2, Colorado Mesa 2, Daemen (N.Y.) 2, Stonehill (Mass.) 2, Union (Tenn.) 2, Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 1, Fort Lewis (Colo.) 1, Rogers State (Okla.) 1, Walsh (Ohio) 1.