INDIANAPOLIS- Great Midwest Coaches voted Findlay as the 2025-26 men’s basketball preseason favorite. Ashland and Thomas More were voted in the second and third spot, respectively.
 
Findlay won the regular season title last year with a 17-3 conference record. Coach of the Year Charlie Ernst returns all-conference forward Jagger Landers for the Oilers. Last season, Landers appeared and started in all 29 games, averaging 10.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest. He concluded the season with 303 points and 125 rebounds. Anthony Johnson is another top returner for Findlay. He appeared and started in all 29 games and led the team in assists with 3.2 per game. Johnson finished the 2024-25 season ranked second in all of Division II in  assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.55. The Oilers were ranked as high as No. 5 in the NABC Coaches Poll last season, the program’s first time cracking the top five since 2011.
 
25-26 Player of the Year Maceo Williams returns for Ashland, in hopes of leading the team to their second G-MAC title. Williams ended the 24-25 campaign with a first-team NABC all-district honor, D2CCA first-team all-region honor, and first-team all-conference  honor. He led the league in points per game at 20.6, while collecting 8.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He shot 63.8% from the field and was 12-of-24 from behind the arc. Redshirt Junior Cooper Davis returns after earning second-team all-conference honors. He averaged 12.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.0 assist per contest. He was the team’s top three-point shooter, making 45.3% on the year.
 
Thomas More rounds out the top three after reaching the conference championship game for the second consecutive year last season. Freshman of the Year Kai Simpson returns for the Saints after appearing in all 30 games. The Lexington, KY native registered 13.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Mitchell Rylee, a second-team all-conference selection, averaged 11.9 points during his junior season. Rylee recorded a team-high seven double-doubles, including a 28 point, 14 rebound season-high game against Hillsdale.
 
Cedarville and Hillsdale round out the top 5 followed by Kentucky Wesleyan and Walsh.
 
The Yellow Jackets made their way to the conference semi-finals after upsetting No. 1 Findlay in a 67-65 victory. Second year head coach Rob Jones returns junior guard Anthony Ruffolo, who averaged 28.3 minutes per game. Ruffolo was the third leading scorer on the team with 12.3 points per game. The team’s leading scorer Jaylen Davis also returns after averaging 14.3 points per game and appearing in 29 contests.
 
Hillsdale will look to replace two first-team all-conference selections in Charles Woodhams and Joe Reuter. Last season, the Chargers earned the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament before falling to the 2024-25 G-MAC champions in Malone.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan was slotted sixth after a 22 win season during 2024-25.

Walsh returns the duo of Kobe Mitchell and Zack Oddo, two all-conference selections, for 2024-25. The Cavaliers missed the postseason last year, but will look to claim their fifth conference title this seas.
 
Lake Erie and Ohio Dominican tied for 8^th place followed by Malone, Northwood, and Tiffin, respectively.
 
The Pioneers stunned the conference last season, claiming their second conference championship title. Malone entered the tournament as the No. 7 seed and pulled off upsets over No. 2 Kentucky Wesleyan, No. 3 Hillsdale, and No. 4 Thomas More to earn the automatic qualifying bid to the Midwest Regional. 

The 2025-26 season will tip-off November 14^th with twelve non-conference matchups set to take place.

School	Points
1. Findlay (8)	126
2. Ashland (2)	117
3. Thomas More (2)	112
4. Cedarville	105
5. Hillsdale	81
6. Kentucky Wesleyan	80
7. Walsh	73
t8. Lake Erie	61
t8. Ohio Dominican	61
10. Malone	49
11. Northwood	48
12. Tiffin	22