Spartans Selected Fifth in Preseason SSC Poll

MELBOURNE, Fla. - Sunshine State Conference men's basketball coaches vote Florida Southern and Nova Southeastern as the preseason favorites for 2023-24. The Moccasins are looking for the program's 24th regular-season title and first since 2019-20. The Sharks are expected to three-peat as regular-season champions. Both squads pulled in 94 points, with FSC holding a 6-5 edge in first-place votes in the preseason poll.

Embry-Riddle and Saint Leo finished third and fourth in the ranking with 78 and 71 points, respectively.

Under first year head coach Linc Darner, Tampa rounds out the Top-5 with 60 points from league coaches, while Palm Beach Atlantic settles in the middle of the poll with 50 points. Rollins (45 points) and Barry (42 points) land in sixth and seventh place and are followed in the voting by Florida Tech (31 points), Lynn (28 points), and Eckerd (12 points).

2023-24 SSC MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

NSU is the defending NCAA Division II, South Region, SSC postseason, and SSC regular-season champion after going 36-0 during 2022-23, including a 20-0 mark in conference play. The Sharks capped the season by defeating West Liberty, 111-101, in the highest-scoring men's basketball championship final in the history of the NCAA. NSU is the sixth team in NCAA Division II history to finish the season as undefeated National Champions.

The 2022-23 NSU squad joins the 1980-81 and 2014-15 Florida Southern teams as the only SSC programs to win a men's basketball national title. The Sharks' latest tournament run also brought the league a 12th Final Four and 22nd Elite Eight appearance.

The 2023-24 season begins with Florida Southern once again hosting nine schools in Lakeland for the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic on Saturday, November 4th, and Sunday, November 5th. The remaining league teams get started Friday, November 10th, or Saturday, November 11th. Conference play begins on Tuesday, November 28th, with Florida Tech hosting Rollins and runs through Saturday, March 2nd.

Below are the full results of the 2023-24 SSC preseason coaches' poll. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their teams (points: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses).

2023-24 SSC MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL

See Also: SSC All-Americans | All-SSC Teams | SSC Champions | National Champions | Record Book

 Previous SSC Men's Basketball Polls & Champions