The ODAC basketball teams are back on the court and the league’s coaches were recently polled for their preseason rankings. Both the men and women’s teams were included.
For the men, Randolph-Macon College and Virginia Wesleyan University are separated at the top of the survey with last season’s ODAC champion and runner-up collecting 142 and 135 points, respectively. The Yellow Jackets secured 10 first place votes while the Marlins garnered the remaining three.
The logjam for spots 3-to-6 in the poll features just an 11-point difference. Washington and Lee University sits third with 110 points, while Roanoke College and the University of Lynchburg both cracked the century mark with 102 and 101 tallies. Guilford College, last season’s preseason chart-topper, slots sixth with 99 points.
For the women, parity rings true throughout the survey, albeit with a top-heavy group separating from the pack. Roanoke College leads the charge after collecting 112 points and six first place votes, but only 10 points separate the first three positions. Washington and Lee University and Bridgewater College split the remaining six top nods with three apiece. The Generals sit second with 106 markers, while the Eagles slot third with 102 tallies.
The University of Lynchburg separates one group from another as the Hornets rank fifth with 86 points. The difference between Shenandoah University, Emory & Henry College, and Guilford College for the next three spots, respective, is the slimmest of margins. The SU Hornets registered 71 points with the Wasps garning 70 tallies and the Quakers picking up 69 markers.
