McNeese men’s basketball has been on a roll, riding a five-game winning streak. Because of the recent success, the Cowboys have moved back into the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll and are seated at No. 16.
The 10-5 Cowboys are 4-0 in Southland Conference play and have been dominant during their streak, outscoring opponents by a 79-59 average, with four of the five wins by double-digits and two by 20 or more points.
Two of McNeese’s 2024-25 opponents are also ranked – Liberty at No. 6 and Santa Clara at No. 20, while two others are receiving votes – South Dakota State and Illinois State.
Gonzaga (12-4) tops the poll and is followed by Bradley (13-2), Saint Mary’s (13-3), UC Irvine (13-2) and Drake (12-2) to round out the top five.
The next five include Liberty (13-2), UC San Diego (13-2), Grand Canyon (11-4), Princeton (11-4), and San Francisco (13-4).
Furman is ranked 11th at 13-2 then Samford (12-3), Arkansas State 11-4), Charleston (12-3), Louisiana Tech (11-4), McNeese (10-5), Columbia (11-2), High Point (13-4), UTEP (12-3) and Santa Clara (10-6). The final five includes Kent State (9-4), Belmont (10-5), Western Kentucky (10-5), UNCW (11-4) and St. Thomas MN (12-5).
McNeese’s winning streak is the longest of the season while its 15-game conference win streak is the program’s longest and tied as the 5th-longest winning streak in league history.
The Cowboys will look to improve on that this Saturday when it returns home to host Nicholls in a rematch of last year’s Southland Conference Tournament Championship game.
