LILBURN, Ga. – The Minnesota State women's basketball team will start the 2026-27 season ranked No. 7 in the NCAA Division II WBCA Coaches Poll.
The Mavericks received 430 points in the preseason poll after finishing the 2025-26 campaign ranked No. 11.
Minnesota State is one of three Northern Sun Collegiate Conference (NSIC) programs in the top 25, joining No. T-15th Concordia-St. Paul and No. 22 Minnesota Duluth.
The Mavericks open their season this weekend at the NCAA Division II CCA Tip-Off Tournament in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. MSU will face No. 1 Grand Valley State on Friday at 9 a.m. CT before taking on Lake Superior State on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. CT and Northern Michigan on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CT.
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| Rank |
School (record) |
Points |
Last season's final rank |
First-Place Votes |
| 1 |
Grand Valley State (36-1) |
575 |
1 |
23 |
| 2 |
Colorado Mesa (37-2) |
510 |
3 |
0 |
| 3 |
Alabama-Huntsville (32-6) |
465 |
4 |
0 |
| 4 |
Indiana, PA (31-4) |
453 |
2 |
0 |
| 5 |
Cal Poly Pomona (29-5) |
451 |
5 |
0 |
| 6 |
Texas Woman's (31-2) |
432 |
6 |
0 |
| 7 |
Minnesota State Mankato (29-3) |
430 |
11 |
0 |
| 8 |
Winston-Salem State (28-4) |
411 |
9 |
0 |
| 9 |
Lenoir-Rhyne (26-6) |
329 |
18 |
0 |
| 10 |
Holy Family (30-5) |
279 |
7 |
0 |
| 11 |
Bentley (23-5) |
274 |
17 |
0 |
| 12 |
Gannon (29-5) |
265 |
8 |
0 |
| 13 |
Carson-Newman (24-11) |
262 |
15 |
0 |
| 14 |
Central Missouri (26-7) |
211 |
RV |
0 |
| 15t |
Concordia-St. Paul (26-7) |
178 |
22 |
0 |
| 15t |
Daemen (26-4) |
178 |
10 |
0 |
| 17 |
Glenville State (24-7) |
159 |
NR |
0 |
| 18 |
Ashland (14-13) |
157 |
NR |
0 |
| 19 |
Tampa (19-11) |
153 |
NR |
0 |
| 20 |
West Texas A&M (28-5) |
152 |
13 |
0 |
| 21 |
Western Washington (25-8) |
148 |
RV |
0 |
| 22 |
Minnesota Duluth (23-9) |
85 |
12 |
0 |
| 23 |
Columbus State (25-5) |
82 |
23 |
0 |
| 24 |
Texas-Tyler (22-11) |
81 |
NR |
0 |
| 25 |
Missouri-St. Louis (25-6) |
79 |
RV |
0 |
Dropped out: No. 14 Nova Southeastern (28-5);No. 16 Fort Hays State (25-6); No. 19 Lincoln Memorial (26-5); No. 20 Coker (26-7); No. 21 Northwood (28-6); No. 24 Ferris State (26-7); No. 25 Central Washington (25-7).
Others receiving votes: Miles (25-6) 76; Fort Hays State (25-6) 74; Nova Southeastern (28-5) 71; Central Washington (25-7) 57; Northwood (28-6) 54; Embry-Riddle (22-7) 44; Ferris State (26-7) 36; Lincoln Memorial (26-5) 35; Lubbock Christian (23-8) 35; Fayetteville State (21-6) 34; Harding (24-7) 33; Coker (26-7) 22; Edward Waters (23-6) 22; Missouri Southern State (20-10) 13; Fairmont State (21-9) 10; Lane (22-6) 9; Vanguard U. (25-6) 9; Augusta (21-10) 8; Southern Connecticut State (20-10) 4; Benedict (19-9) 4.
