The last 8 leagues wrap up the Preseason Mid-Major Madness Preview with highlights from the experienced Midshipmen, talented McNeese, and the exciting top of the West Coast Conference.
Patriot League
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The Middies bring back five of six guys who played in all 34 games last year, including all five who played more than 25 minutes. This Navy squad will be led by senior guard Austin Benigni who put up 18.8 points on 40.6% from the field and 4.3 assists last season. Benigni was voted as the Preseason Player of the Year. Seniors Aidan Kehoe and Donovan Draper were both top-55 in rebounding last year and Kehone put in an astounding 62% of his field goals. Junior guard Jinwoo Kim posted a 40.7% three-point accuracy on 91 attempts. Senior Mike Woods only appeared in 30 games with only one start, but still managed to shoot at a 47.4% clip from the field. Navy will be one of the most experienced teams coming into the season and will get a chance for some early resume-building performances in games against Yale, at Penn State and at UNC. Don’t be surprised to see the Middies in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998.
Player Spotlight
Austin Benigni
Southern
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Chattanooga lost most of their productive roster from their ’24-’25 NIT Tournament title team, however, they do bring back four players who appeared in at least 31 games last season. The Mocs also brought in Bellarmine transfer, senior guard Billy Smith, who was dynamite for the Knights last year. He made 44.5% of his shots, 38.7% from the arc, and 95% from the charity stripe in 30 games. Fellow guard, Junior Sebastian Hartmann, transferred in from Eastern Washington, after averaging 9 points for the Eagles on 51% shooting. Chattanooga will have a tough opening week as they visit Saint Mary’s and UNLV on back-to-back days. The rest of their non-conference will be a breeze, outside a neutral site bout against Auburn.
Player Spotlight
Rickey Bradley Jr.- senior guard VMI
Southland
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McNeese will be without Will Wade, their extremely prolific head coach (58 wins in 2 years), but retain the Southland Player of the Year in Javohn Garcia. The Cowboys topped 5-seed Clemson with Garcia being held to 0 field goals in 31 minutes. However, Garcia was a 43% shooter the rest of the season, including six 20 point performances. A non-conference that features a trip to Michigan at the back-end should set up the Cowboys for a successful first season for new head coach Bill Armstrong.
Player Spotlight
Javohn Garcia
Southwestern Athletic
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Bethune-Cookman has one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in Four-Point coverage with road trips to Auburn, Miami, Dayton, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Saint Louis, Arizona, and Oklahoma State. The Wildcats will be one of the most over-tested teams by the time the calendar flips to 2026, but, as long as they can get a breather or two, they have a chance to run through the SWAC. Arkansas Pine-Bluff transfer, senior guard Doctor Bradley, was a monster last year to the tune of 19.6 ppg on 56.1% shooting with 9.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, a block, and 2.8 steals per game. Bradley was picked as the Conference’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Fellow transfer Jakobi Heady, senior guard from Central Michigan, put up 15 ppg on 42.3% shooting and 6.5 rebounds.
Player Spotlight
Doctor Bradley
Summit
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St. Thomas is eligible for the NCAA tournament for the first time after they transitioned from D-III to D-I, and they were picked to win the Summit. The Tommies feature two Preseason All-League First Team members in Carter Bjerke and Nolan Minessale. Minessale was picked as the Preseason Player of the Year after a stellar freshman campaign where he shot 56.2% and put up 11.2 ppg, including 20 points on 60% shooting in the League Championship game. Bjerke produced 9.8 ppg on 46.7% from the field and 41.6% from beyond the arc. If the Tommies can build on an impressive 24-10 record, it will start with a big road trip to Saint Mary’s but gets significantly easier after the first week.
Player Spotlight
Nolan Minessale
Sun Belt
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After a four-way tie last year, the Sun Belt will look for a true dominant team this year in James Madison. The Dukes bring in UT Rio Grande Valley transfer, senior guard Cliff Davis, and Georgia Southern transfer, senior guard Bradley Douglas, to help them separate from the pack. Davis put up 12.1 ppg for the Vaqueros while Douglas put up 12.6 for the Eagles. The Dukes start the year in the MAC-SBS Challenge against Akron but will not face their real challenge until a December 29th trip to Arkansas.
Player Spotlight
Robert Davis Jr- Old Dominion junior guard
Western Athletic (WAC)
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California Baptist is picked to win the WAC with Dominique Daniels Jr. set to lead the Lancers once again. Daniels, senior guard, posted 19.6 points per game one year after posting 19.2 points per game. The prolific scorer will be joined by Northern Arizona transfer Jayden Jackson (12.6 ppg on 47.9%) and returning guard Martel Williams (9.1 ppg on 42.5%) to help the Lancers improve on a 17-15, 9-7 in conference mark from last year. A tough end to November and beginning of December await with consecutive trips to Oregon State, Colorado, BYU, Utah, and Eastern Washington.
Player Spotlight
Dominique Daniels Jr.
WCC
Top 2
Gonzaga was selected as the preseason favorite to win the conference for the seventh time in eight years. Senior forward Graham Ike was named to the Preseason Team for the third straight year after leading the Bulldogs with 17.3 ppg and 7.3 rebounds last year. Ike shot 59.8% from the field and 39.4% from three with 14 20-point performances. An early December date at Rupp Arena will be the biggest non-conference test for the Bulldogs before a battle with Saint Mary’s starts for WCC dominion, but Gonzaga will also face OU, Creighton, ASU, Alabama, Maryland, UCLA, and Oregon in their non-conference slate.
Saint Mary’s is looking to defend their regular season crown with three WCC Preseason Team selects. Mikey Lewis, Paulius Murauskas, and Harry Wessels lead the talented Gaels. All three played in 34+ games last year and shot better than 40% from the field. Murauskas put up 12.1 points with 7.7 rebounds per game. San Diego transfer Tony Duckett is coming off a freshman campaign where he put up 10.4 ppg on 38.6% from the field in 29 games. The Gaels have a much easier non-conference schedule with visits from St. Thomas, Chattanooga and Northern Iowa figuring to be their toughest tests.
Player Spotlight
Graham Ike
This weekend I will be releasing the first Mid-25 where I will rank the top mid-majors going into the season.
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