MIDDLETOWN, Ohio- The Pomeroys of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College have been picked as the favorites in the River States Conference in men's basketball for 2024-25, finishing first in the 2024-25 RSC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The poll, announced Thursday by the River States Conference office, saw each of the conference's 12 head coaches rank the other member schools in order of predicted finish.
The Pomeroys were listed first on nine of the 12 ballots, earning 75 percent of the first place votes. SMWC had a historic season in 2023-2, going 17-1 in conference play and winning the West Division title. The Pomeroys earned a bid to the NAIA National Basketball Tournament for the first time in school history, earning a 12 seed and a trip to the Orange City region.
Shawnee State, who went 13-4 in RSC play last season and earned a national tournament bid of their own, was selected to finish second by the coaches. The other three first place votes were earned by the IU Kokomo Cougars, who finished third in the poll. The top five of the RSC was rounded out by fourth place WVU Tech and fifth place Rio Grande.
The remainder of the poll saw IU Southeast sixth to finish out the top half of the ranking, followed by IU East seventh, Oakland City eighth, Midway ninth, Brescia tenth, Alice Lloyd eleventh, and first-year program IU Columbus 12th.
The preseason favorites will play the first RSC conference game of the season, when the Pomeroys head to Owensboro for a meeting with Brescia on November 26. Every team in the conference will play one conference game before the first of the year, with the first day of full conference play scheduled for Saturday, January 4.
2024-25 RSC PRESEASON MEN's BASKETBALL COACHES' POLL
1. St. Mary-of-the-Woods (119 points, 9 first place votes)
2. Shawnee State (106 points)
3. IU Kokomo (101 points, 3 first place votes)
4. WVU Tech (89 points)
5. Rio Grande (80 points)
6. IU Southeast (71 points)
7. IU East (63 points)
8. Oakland City (50 points)
9. Midway (41 points)
10. Brescia (31 points)
11. Alice Lloyd (26 points)
12. IU Columbus (12 points)