Albertus Magnus Sits Atop GNAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll

WINTHROP, Mass. – Albertus Magnus has made 11 straight appearances in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men’s Basketball Championship game and will look to continue that streak in the 2023-24 season as the preseason favorite.

The Falcons earned 218 points, including eight first place votes, in this year’s voting which was conducted by the league’s 15 men’s basketball head coaches last week.

Albertus Magnus finished 14-4 in conference play (19-10 overall) last year and was the No. 2 seed in the South Division. They picked up wins in over Colby-Sawyer and Emmanuel in the quarterfinals and semifinals to earn a chance at the GNAC title. In the championship, they earned the 83-79 victory over the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.), the No. 1 seed in the South Division. The Falcons fell to John Carroll in the first round of the NCAA Championship.

Last year’s GNAC Tournament runner-up, USJ, landed in the second spot in this year’s poll with 211 points and five first place votes. The Blue Jays have appeared in the championship game each of the past four seasons, winning the title twice. In 2022-23, they had a perfect 18-0 GNAC (29-2 overall) record and were the top-seed in the South Division. USJ got the best of Anna Maria and Saint Joseph’s (Maine) in the tournament before falling to Albertus in the championship.

However, USJ’s regular-season performance was good enough to earn an at-large selection into the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship. They reached the Sectional Semifinals by defeating Chatham and Williams before falling to Wheaton (Ill.) in the third round.

Emmanuel and Johnson & Wales landed in the third and fourth spots in this year’s voting with 194 and 153 points, respectively. Both schools also received one of the last two first place votes. Rounding out the top five in this year’s voting were Regis and Saint Joseph’s (Maine), which each earned 143 points to tie for the position.

New addition to the league, Mitchell collected 112 points for seventh place followed immediately by Lasell, which placed eighth with 111 points. Dean (107 points) and Norwich (99) rounded out the top-10.

The remainder of this year’s poll consisted of Anna Maria (78), Colby-Sawyer (73), Rivier (72), New England College (60), and Elms (26) in that order.

Tip off for the 2023-24 men’s basketball season is on Wednesday, Nov. 8 as teams open with non-conference action. Conference play gets underway on Saturday, Dec. 2. Teams will complete a 14-game single round robin conference season with the top-10 teams at the end of the regular season earning berths into the 2024 GNAC Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament. The postseason starts with a Play-In Round featuring the bottom four tournament seeds on Monday, Feb. 19 with those winners advancing to the GNAC Quarterfinals on Tuesday, Feb. 20. Following the quarterfinals, the remaining four teams will play in the GNAC Semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 22 with the tournament culminating in the GNAC Championship game on Saturday, Feb. 24. The winner of the championship game will be named 2023-24 GNAC Men’s Basketball Champion and earn the league’s automatic qualifier into the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship.

2023-24 GNAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll

ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 16 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.

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