Liberty preseason favorite to win Conference USA men’s basketball

DALLAS – Liberty was voted the preseason favorite to win the 2025-26 Conference USA men’s regular season championship, as voted by the league’s 12 head coaches.

Kennesaw State’s Simeon Cottle was named the Preseason Player of the Year and headlines the conference’s 10 Preseason All-Conference honorees, announced by the league Thursday.

The Flames collected 11 first-place votes and finished with a total of 143 points. Liberty enters the new season after posting a 28-7 record in 2024-25, including a 13-5 mark in CUSA play. Head coach Ritchie McKay enters his 13^th season at the helm after a CUSA regular season and tournament championship.

Kennesaw State claimed the remaining first-place vote and was picked to finish second by the coaches. New Mexico State came in at No. 3 while MTSU and Louisiana Tech placed No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Western Kentucky claimed the six spot, followed by Jacksonville State, Texas-El Paso, Sam Houston, Florida International, Delaware and Missouri State.

The season tips off Nov. 3 and culminates in the Conference USA Basketball Championships March 10-14 at Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. The men’s final is scheduled for  March 14 and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

Cottle returns to Kennesaw State for his senior season as the top returning scorer in Conference USA as he finished fourth in the league last year with a career-best 18.0 points per game. The standout guard was a second team all-conference member last season and is one of just two players from the first and second team to return. Cottle led CUSA in free throw percentage (87.6) and recorded three 30-plus point games, including a 32-point effort in the Owls’ 80-77 quarterfinal win over NM State.

Seven of the league’s 12 teams are represented on the preseason all-conference team including Zach Cleveland, Kaden Metheny and Colin Porter, who helped guide the Flames to their first CUSA title. Kennesaw State joined Liberty with multiple honorees as Braedan Lue joined Cottle on the preseason all-league team. Lue was an all-freshman team member last year that averaged 10.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Louisiana Tech’s Kaden Cooper and MTSU’s Kamari Lands both return to their respective campuses and land on the preseason squad. Cooper averaged 9.3 points per game in 30 starts for the Bulldogs while leading his team in total rebounds (249) and rebounds per game (7.8). Lands dealt with injury in 2024-25 but made a huge impact in the 13 games he started. The senior guard averaged 8.1 points and concluded the regular season with three consecutive double figure efforts.

Delaware’s Cavan Reilly, Jacksonville State’s Mostapha El Moutaouakkil and New Mexico State’s Jemel Jones round out the 2025-26 CUSA Preseason All-Conference Team. Reilly made 32 starts for the Blue Hens, while averaging 12.4 points and finishing first in the CAA during conference play with 1.9 steals per game.

El Moutaouakkil transfers to Jax State after leading Louisiana in scoring (14.5) and rebounding (5.2) last season. Jones arrives in Las Cruces after a breakout year at CSU Bakersfield where he averaged 18.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.