Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado Mesa leads the way in the 2023 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll after earning 186 total points, the league announced Wednesday. The RMAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll is voted on by the league’s 15 head coaches. Head coaches are not permitted to vote for their program.
 
Colorado Mesa enters the season after a very successful 2022-23 campaign in which the Mavericks recorded 25 regular-season wins, the second most in program history. After making it to the semifinals in the RMAC Tournament, Colorado Mesa earned one of the eight spots in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championship. In addition to their 186 points, the Mavs concluded preseason voting with eight first-place votes to lead the conference.
 
Fort Lewis checks in at number two in preseason rankings with 177 total points and four first-place votes. The Skyhawks are coming off a historic 2022-23 season in which they recorded 25 regular-season wins, marking the most in program history. After capturing the RMAC Tournament Championship the Skyhawks advanced to the South Central Regional Championship and earned a berth in the semifinal round before falling to a potent Black Hills State squad. Things will look a little different in Durango this year as Fort Lewis has inked nine new players heading into the 2022-23 season.
 
Colorado School of Mines rounds out the top three spots in preseason voting with 169 total points and a trio of first-place votes. The Orediggers claimed 24 regular-season wins last year and advanced to the NCAA Tournament as the number three seed. Mines will also have a new look to its program as the Orediggers have added seven new student-athletes to their roster.
 
Black Hills State finishes preseason voting in fourth place with 157 points, followed by Chadron State in fifth place with 143 points. Metropolitan State University of Denver checks in sixth overall with 129 total points, while the University of Colorado Colorado Springs occupies seventh place with 122 points.
 
Regis enters the season at the number-eight spot with 98 points, just ahead of Westminster which earned 89 points. New Mexico Highlands (79 points), South Dakota Mines (62 points) and Colorado State University Pueblo (55 points) occupy the 10th, 11th, and 12th-place positions, respectively. The preseason poll’s final three spots are held by Colorado Christian (44 points), Adams State (43 points) and Western Colorado (22 points).
 
The 2023-24 RMAC Men’s Basketball season tips off on Saturday, Nov. 4, as Colorado School of Mines takes on Bentley, and Fort Lewis battles Haskell Indian Nations University. Conference play gets underway on Friday, Dec. 1, with 14 of the league’s 15 schools in action. The RMAC Championships will begin with the quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 5.

 
2023-24 RMAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll