MILWAUKEE, Wis. (naccsports.org) --- St. Norbert College edged Marian University, 306-303, for the top spot in the 2022-2023 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) men's basketball preseason poll released Thursday.
The Green Knights, who claimed a share of the 2021-2022 NACC title, received eight first-place votes, while the 2022 NACC Tournament champion Sabres picked up 12 top votes from the voting pool, which consists of the league's head coaches and athletics communications professionals. Concordia University Chicago, which joined St. Norbert atop last year's standings, is a close third with 286 points and three first-place votes.
Wisconsin Lutheran College (229) is fourth, just ahead of a tight grouping consisting of Benedictine University (209) in fifth, Illinois Institute of Technology (208; 3 first-place votes) in sixth, and Concordia University Wisconsin (206) in seventh. Rockford University (152) is eighth followed by Edgewood College (140). Lakeland University (100), Aurora University (97), Milwaukee School of Engineering (90), and Dominican University (40) round out the poll.
2021-2022 Recap: With the full title picture in question until the final night of the regular season, Concordia Chicago, Concordia Wisconsin, and St. Norbert finished in a three-way tie for the title with 11-6 marks in league play. In the end, the top nine teams in the standings were separated by just 1.5 games. Fifth-seeded Marian emerged as the tournament champion, defeating second-seeded Concordia Wisconsin, 77-71, in the final to cap a run of four tournament victories in nine days - the last three wins coming on the road. The Sabres fell to UW-Platteville, 76-59, in the first round of the NCAA Championship.
New Coaches: There are two new head coaches in the NACC this season.
Steve Christiansen takes over at Aurora after spending last season as an assistant at Northern Illinois University. Prior to that, he spent 17 seasons as the head coach at Triton College in River Grove, Illinois, where he amassed over 400 victories, numerous conference and regional crowns, and the 2018 NJCAA Division II National Championship. The other new coach is
Jordan Townsend at Benedictine. Townsend served as the Eagles' lead assistant last season after five seasons as the top assistant at his alma mater, the University of Dubuque. He also has experience in the NACC as an assistant at Rockford during the 2015-16 season.
2022-2023 Schedule: The schedule gets underway Tuesday, Nov. 8, with four games -- Lakeland hosts Lake Forest, Aurora entertains Maranatha Baptist, Dominican travels to Beloit, and Concordia Chicago ventures to Loras. Edgewood and Benedictine take to the court the following day with the Wisconsin Eagles traveling to Viterbo and the Illinois Eagles host Wheaton (Ill.).
The initial NACC contest is Tuesday, Nov. 15 as Concordia Wisconsin hosts Concordia Chicago, while the first full date of conference play is Tuesday, Nov. 29 with Illinois Tech hosting Aurora, Benedictine traveling to Dominican, Wisconsin Lutheran entertaining Concordia Wisconsin, Concordia Chicago making the trip to Edgewood, Rockford traveling to Marian, and Lakeland hosting St. Norbert. The final date of regular-season play is Saturday, Feb. 18.
NACC Tournament: The top six teams in the final standings qualify for the 2023 NACC Men's Basketball Tournament. First-round play is slated for Wednesday, Feb. 22, followed by semifinals on Friday, Feb. 24, and the final on Sunday, Feb. 26. The tournament champion receives the NACC's automatic berth in the 2023 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship.
2022-2023 NACC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
| Institution (FPV) |
Points |
| St. Norbert (8) |
306 |
| Marian (12) |
303 |
| Concordia Chicago (3) |
286 |
| Wisconsin Lutheran |
229 |
| Benedictine |
209 |
| Illinois Tech (3) |
208 |
| Concordia Wisconsin |
206 |
| Rockford |
152 |
| Edgewood |
140 |
| Lakeland |
100 |
| Aurora |
97 |
| MSOE |
90 |
| Dominican |
40 |