RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The Southland Conference (SLC) released the 2026-27 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll on Tuesday and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros were picked to finish fifth. 
 
McNeese, coming off its third consecutive conference tournament championship, was picked to win the conference and received 11 of 12 first-place votes with 121 total points. Stephen F. Austin, the reigning regular season SLC champion, was picked to finish second with 109 points. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi received one first-place vote and was third in the poll with 98 points, coming in just head of Lamar (91) and UTRGV (78). 
 
Voting for the preseason poll consists of one ballot per member institution submitted by the head coach and/or sports information director. Institutions rank the other 11 teams and cannot rank themselves in the poll. 
 
The UTRGV Vaqueros will be under the direction of first-year head coach Brandon Chambers this season, which begins Nov. 2 against Texas A&M-Kingsville at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Last season, the Vaqueros finished third in the Southland after winning a program-best 14 conference games. They reached the semifinals of the SLC Tournament and took eventual champion McNeese to the brink in a triple overtime loss – the third triple overtime game in tournament history. 
 
Season tickets, single-game tickets, and mini plans for the 2026-27 men's basketball season are on sale at UTRGVTickets.com or by contacting assistant athletic director for tickets and operations Nicholas Swanson over the phone at (956) 665-4205 or via email at tickets@utrgv.edu. 
 
2026-27 SLC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll 
Rk. School – Points (First-place votes) 
1. McNeese – 121 (11) 
2. Stephen F. Austin – 109 
3. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – 98 (1) 
4. Lamar – 91     
5. UTRGV – 78 
6. LSU New Orleans – 68 
7. Houston Christian – 47 
8. Northwestern State – 45 
9. Southeastern – 38   
10. Nicholls – 37 
11. UIW – 36        
12. East Texas A&M – 24 

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