Marian University men’s basketball received 194 points to finish sixth in the NACC preseason poll, as voted on by the head coaches and athletic communication professionals of the conference.

A tightly contested poll saw St. Norbert narrowly edge out Aurora for the top spot.  The Green Knights had 323 points and 15 of the first-place votes, while the Spartans finished with 315 points and nine first-place tallies.  The next three schools were separated by just 19 points with Benedictine finishing at 252, CUW at 242, and MSOE at 233.  The Raiders also had the final pair of first-place picks.  Marian then came in at 194 with WLC following closely behind with 185. 

Rounding out the picks for the NACC Tournament was Concordia Chicago at 143, but Rockford was only two behinds the Cougars, and Lakeland just one point behind the Regents.  Illinois Tech then came in at 80 with Edgewood following at 69 points.  Dominican rounded out the poll with its 49 points.

The top eight teams qualify for the NACC Tournament with the winner of the conference tournament earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament.  The full release from the NACC can be found at https://naccsports.org/sports/mbball.

Marian opens its season at Saint Mary’s (Minn.) Friday, Nov. 6 for a 7 p.m. tip-off.  The first home game for the Sabres is Saturday, November 21 at 3:15 p.m. against Maranatha Baptist.
 

Date posted: November 4, 2026