Men's Basketball

Pfeiffer Atop Men's Basketball Preseason Poll

The USA South Athletic Conference's men's basketball coaches have released their 2025-26 preseason poll. Head coaches do not vote for their own teams in the balloting.

Pfeiffer was placed atop the rankings thanks to receiving 47 total points and five of the possible eight first place votes. The Falcons earned the program's first USA South regular season title by finishing with a 12-2 mark in Conference play. Pfeiffer then swept through the USA South Tournament, en route to capturing the program's second tournament crown. N.C. Wesleyan, who met the Falcons in the League Tournament title game, placed second in the poll with 45 total points and the remaining three first place votes. Brevard came in at third in the poll with 30 points while Mary Baldwin rounded out the top-four with 26 points.

Since the first Conference men's basketball preseason poll in 2003-04, 22 years, the team picked first in the poll's history has played for the League tournament championship on 13 occasions, winning it ten times. Last season, Pfeiffer became just the second team, the first team since Christopher Newport in 2011, to capture the Conference crown after being ranked second in the League preseason poll.

The 2026 USA South Men's Basketball Tournament will once again be conducted exclusively on campus sites. The top-six seeded teams will advance to postseason play which will begin with first round action on Tuesday, February 24. The semifinals will take place Thursday, February 26 with the finals occurring on Saturday, February 28. The higher-seeded team in each contest will serve as the host of that particular game.
 

2025-26 USA South Coaches Preseason Men's Basketball Poll
Rank Institution (1st Place Votes) Points
1. Pfeiffer* (5) 47
2. N.C. Wesleyan (3) 45
3. Brevard 30
4. Mary Baldwin 26
5. William Peace 25
6. Greensboro 23
7. Southern Virginia 19
8. Methodist 9
*Defending Regular Season & Tournament Champion
    

All-Time Men's Basketball Conference Records
(listed by wins of current Conference members)
Team Seasons Record Pct. Conference Championships
(Reg. Season / Tournament)
N.C. Wesleyan 62 421-381 .525 10 / 5
Methodist 62 408-393* .509 11 / 8
Greensboro 59 354-418 .459 3 / 3
William Peace 12 77-95 .448 0 / 0
Pfeiffer 7 54-46 .540 1 / 2
Mary Baldwin 4 34-22 .607 1 / 1
Brevard 7 34-62 .354 0 / 0
Southern Virginia 4 25-31 .446 0 / 0
*Methodist (and Averett) played one-fewer conference game during the 1976-77 season.