BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Alabama State University men's basketball team was voted the seventh-best team in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's coaches and sports information directors and announced Wednesday afternoon.

Two seasons removed from a run in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, the Hornets look forward to a 2026-27 campaign with a clean slate – featuring just four returning players and a new head honcho in first-year head coach Chris Wright. His recruiting efforts have brought in players like Preseason First-Team All-SWAC guard Mike James, who transferred in as a senior from Mississippi Valley State, as well as seven incoming upperclassmen for his first campaign.

Bama State will look to improve on its 10-21 overall record and 7-11 mark, the latter of which was tied for ninth in the conference, as it looks to challenge Bethune-Cookman at the top of the conference standings. As for postseason play, it will seek to last beyond the first of five days at the SWAC Championship Tournament in Atlanta, Ga., in early March.

The Hornets were one of five teams to receive first-place votes, along with Bethune-Cookman, Southern, Jackson State and Texas Southern. BC and Southern occupied the top two spots in the poll, followed by Alabama A&M, Florida A&M and Prairie View A&M to round out the top five.

The revamped Hornets squad will open its season in College Station, Texas, against Texas A&M University. It will return for a two-game set at the Joe L. Reed Dunn-Oliver Acadome against Georgia Gwinnett (Monday, Nov. 9 at 6 p.m.) and Oklahoma Panhandle State (Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 6 p.m.) to open the 2026-27 campaign.