RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Great American Conference announced its 2025-26 preseason coaches poll on Thursday afternoon. Fifth-year Head Coach Chad Tapp, and the rest of the Weevil basketball program was voted to finish 11th place overall.
 
With 27 total points, Arkansas-Monticello sits three points behind rival Southern Arkansas and three points ahead of the East Central Tigers. Southern Nazarene undoubtedly led the pack as the preseason favorite, with 119 total points and nine first-place votes throughout the conference. The GAC regular season champion and tournament runner-up was followed by Oklahoma Baptist in second with 103 points and one first-place vote. The reigning tournament champion was voted third overall with 95 points and a single first-place nod. The Wonder Boys of Arkansas Tech narrowly edged out fourth with 81 points and the final first-place vote, followed by Southwestern Oklahoma State with 79 points to round out the top five.

The 2025-26 Weevil roster will be available on uamsports.com. UAM travels to Tahlequah, Oklahoma, to open the season in the Central Region Challenge. The season opener will be against tournament host Northeastern State on Friday, Nov. 14, with tipoff at 7:00 p.m. UAM will leave the tournament with a game against the University of Central Oklahoma on Saturday, the 15th, at 2:00 p.m. The Weevils will return home on Tuesday, Nov. 18, when they host Hendrix College for the home opener. The opener will be the annual Billie Ball Game and will have a tipoff at 12:30 p.m.

FANS! Don't think you can make it out to UAM home games this year? No worries! You can still watch and keep up with the live video feed and live stats. All Weevil Basketball games will be live streamed on the official UAM Sports YouTube page, and live stats can be found by clicking the "Live Stats" tab on the right side of the 2025-2026 Men's Basketball Schedule.

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