SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Furman is ranked No. 6 and UNC Greensboro is No. 12 in the preseason edition of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, while ETSU and Chattanooga also received votes. The Southern Conference is one of six leagues with multiple teams in the rankings.
Furman, picked by the league’s media to win the Southern Conference crown in 2020-21, went 25-7 last season, matching its school record for wins and finishing second in SoCon play at 15-3. The Paladins return four starters from that squad, including preseason All-SoCon selections Noah Gurley and Clay Mounce, as well as preseason all-conference selection Mike Bothwell. Fourth-year head coach Bob Richey is tied for fourth in league history for wins per season with an average of 24.3 through his first three seasons.
UNCG, the coaches’ pick to win the SoCon this season, went 23-9 overall and 13-5 in SoCon play last season, finishing third in the league. The Spartans welcome back two starters from that team, led by preseason SoCon Player of the Year Isaiah Miller. The senior guard was the Player of the Year last season and is the two-time defending SoCon Defensive Player of the Year. Head coach Wes Miller enters the season 16th in SoCon history with 164 career wins.
ETSU is the second team out of the mid-major rankings. The Bucs became just the fourth team in league history to win 30 games in a season last year, going 30-4 overall (16-2 SoCon) in winning the SoCon regular-season and tournament crowns. The Bucs must replace all five starters, however, and saw SoCon Coach of the Year Steve Forbes leave to take the reins at Wake Forest. Jason Shay, who was on Forbes’ staff for the last five seasons, was elevated to head coach and now has the services of brothers Ledarrius and Ty Brewer, transfers who will be seeing their first action at ETSU this year and were both selected to the preseason all-conference team.
Chattanooga went 20-13 overall and 10-8 in league play last season, tying for fifth in the regular season before reaching the semifinals of the Ingles SoCon Championship presented by General Shale. The Mocs, who turned in their first 20-win campaign since 2015-16, return just one starter in preseason All-SoCon pick David Jean-Baptiste. Head coach Lamont Paris has increased Chattanooga’s win total in each of his three seasons on the sidelines, including a 7.5-game improvement last season.
The 100th season of SoCon men’s basketball tips off Wednesday with eight teams playing official contests and Samford playing an exhibition. UNCG gets its season under way Friday in Louisville, Kentucky, against Little Rock.
For more information on the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25,
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CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25
Rank School (1st-place), Points
1. Gonzaga (31), 775
2. Northern Iowa, 698
3. Loyola Chicago, 598
4. Little Rock, 583
5. South Dakota State, 468
6. Furman, 463
7. BYU, 449
8. Austin Peay, 408
9. Winthrop, 397
10. Murray State, 389
11. Georgia State, 387
12. UNCG, 339
13. Belmont, 315
14. Eastern Washington, 292
15. Saint Mary’s, 290
16. Bradley, 284
17. Vermont, 278
18. Bowling Green, 243
19. New Mexico State, 226
20. Wright State, 223
21. Siena, 213
22. Boston University, 210
23. UC Irvine, 142
24. San Francisco, 130
25. UCSB, 127
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Pepperdine 119,
ETSU 117, Stephen F Austin 113, Liberty 112, Yale 94, Lipscomb 81, Hofstra 69, Buffalo 43, Santa Clara 42, Drexel 33, Pacific 32, Akron 31, UMBC 23, North Dakota State 21, Youngstown State 21, Indiana State 20, Toledo 18, Harvard 17, Stetson 17, Drake 12, Morgan State 11, Texas Southern 12, UNC Asheville 12, Colgate 10, Norfolk State 10, Ohio 10, South Alabama 10, NC A&T 9, Kent State 5, Missouri State 5,
Chattanooga 4, Grand Canyon 4, Northern Kentucky 4, Southern Illinois 4, Elon 3, Montana 3, Valparaiso 3, Delaware 2, Abilene Christian 1, New Hampshire 1.