C-N picks up five first-place votes, picked second in preseason SAC poll
ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the first time since 2015, Carson-Newman has been picked to finish in the top two in 2021-22 preseason South Atlantic Conference Coaches Poll, the league office announced in a release Monday morning.
VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the first time since 2015, Carson-Newman has been picked to finish in the top two in 2021-22 preseason South Atlantic Conference Coaches Poll, the league office announced in a release Monday morning.
Carson-Newman finished the 2020-21 campaign as SAC tournament champs and earned a spot in the NCAA Southeast Regional.
The Eagles won 11 straight games en route to the 2021 SAC tournament title before falling in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Tusculum in overtime 65-63.
"It says something about the past, but nothing about the future," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "We sat here last year at this same time and were preseason ninth, which had everything to do with the past. We make no deal about this whether we were one or last, it wouldn't impact anything we do or say on a day in, day out basis."
Queens was picked to win the league with seven first-place votes and 150 points. Carson-Newman followed with its five first-place votes and 145 points. The Eagles were 14 points clear of Tusculum, who was picked third with 131 points.
Carson-Newman will get to see where it stands within the prognostications fairly quickly. After two non-conference games to open the year with Lees-McRae and King, C-N opens SAC play with a road trip to Tusculum and a home showdown with Queens, who starts the year No. 17 in the NABC poll.
"I've loved our team," Benson said. "We've got everyone back and the quality of people we have back makes it so much more enjoyable. We have really good guys who are about the right stuff and we added two new guys who immediately were absorbed into that. Up to this point, it's been a really enjoyable but challenging preseason."
Defending regular season champ Lincoln Memorial collected the final first-place vote and sits in fourth place with 128 points. The Railsplitters are coming off a final four appearance, but are replacing head coach Josh Schertz and four of their top five scorers.
The final team that received triple-digit points in the poll was fifth-place Newberry with 108.
Wingate, Catawba and Anderson round out the top eight in the preseason poll, while Lenoir-Rhyne, Coker, Limestone, Mars Hill and UVA Wise are predicted to be on the outside looking in to the league tournament.
Carson-Newman opens the season Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. against Lees-McRae. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 6:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff web only at cneagles.com/live
1 Queens (7) 150
2 Carson-Newman (5) 145
3 Tusculum 131
4 Lincoln Memorial (1) 128
5 Newberry 108
6 Wingate 93
7 Catawba 88
8 Anderson 85
9 Lenoir-Rhyne 80
10 Coker 50
11 Limestone 43
12 Mars Hill 42
13 UVA Wise 27
