NEW ORLEANS — Last season's Sun Belt Conference regular-season champions, Texas State, was selected third in the 2021-22 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll, the league announced Wednesday afternoon.
"I just think it's a tremendous amount of respect for the amount of work these guys have put in over the years," said Texas State men's basketball Terrence "TJ" Johnson. "Certainly, our group is a veteran group of starters, and the league is familiar with them. Hopefully, we can live up to these expectations."
Georgia State, with eight first-place votes, claimed the top spot followed by Louisiana, which picked up two first-place votes. Texas State slid into the third spot, in front of App State, which picked up the remaining two first-place votes.
South Alabama, Arkansas State and Coastal Carolina were selected fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, while Little Rock rounded out the top eight. Troy and UTA were tied for ninth with 40 total points, while Georgia Southern and ULM rounded out the top 12 at 11th and 12th, respectively.
Last season, Texas State was the only men's basketball program in the Sun Belt Conference to win more than 11 games as the Bobcats went 12-3 in conference play en route to claiming the third regular-season title in program history and first since 1999.
The Bobcats return their top three leading scorers in
Mason Harrell (13.9 points per game),
Caleb Asberry (13.3) and
Isiah Small (10.9). In total, Texas State returns eight student-athletes who saw game action throughout last season's championship run.
After shifting to two six-team divisions for the 2020-21 basketball season to limit travel for teams amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sun Belt Conference has elected to return to the pre-pandemic format.
Texas State will open its 2021-22 schedule on Tuesday, Nov. 9 when the Bobcats travel to San Antonio, Texas to play Incarnate Word at 6:30 p.m. TXST will play its first five regular-season games on the road, before playing LaTourneau at home on Wednesday, Nov. 24 at 6 p.m.
2021-22 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Georgia State (8) – 139
2. Louisiana (2) – 125
3. Texas State – 110
4. App State (2) – 109
5. South Alabama – 105
6. Arkansas State – 89
7. Coastal Carolina – 69
8. Little Rock – 46
T9. Troy – 40
T9. UTA – 40
11. Georgia Southern – 39
12. ULM – 25
