Men’s Basketball:Louisiana Cracks CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25

Cajuns enter poll at No. 20; one of three SBC teams in top 25 

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team entered the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll for the first time this season when they were ranked No. 20 in the weekly poll released on Monday.

Louisiana, one of three Sun Belt Conference teams in the poll, increased its winning streak to six games last Saturday with a 92-72 win at McNeese State. The Ragin’ Cajuns, ranked ninth in the nation in scoring offense (89.5), received votes in last week’s poll for the first time in the 2016-17 season and is joined in the Dec. 5 poll by Sun Belt Conference schools UTA (No. 6) and Arkansas State (No. 21). West Coast Conference schools Gonzaga and St. Mary’s were ranked 1-2 in the poll with Valparaiso, Wichita State and UNCW rounding out the top five.

The poll is conducted by a vote of 31 head coaches at mid-major Division I programs across the country. The voting panel is chaired by Southern head coach Roman Banks with Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin joined by fellow Sun Belt Conference coaches James Fox (Appalachian State) and Danny Kaspar (Texas State) on the voting panel.

The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, Western Athletic.

Louisiana (6-2) will return to action on Wednesday when it plays host to Loyola of New Orleans in a 7 p.m. contest at the Cajundome. Tickets are available by contacting the Cajundome Ticket Office at (337) 265-2357.