GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Returning no less than 16 players from a team that won a co-RMAC regular season championship and reached the NCAA Tournament last season, Colorado Mesa men's basketball appeared at No. 14 in the preseason NABC Division II Coaches Poll.

The Mavericks are the highest-ranked RMAC team in the poll. Four RMAC teams are ranked between No. 14 and No. 18 – the Mavs at No. 14, Fort Lewis at No. 15, Black Hills State at No. 17 and Colorado School of Mines at No. 18.

The Mavs are the second highest-ranked team from the South Central region behind No. 7 West Texas A&M. Colorado Mesa and WTA&M are scheduled to play a non-conference game in Las Vegas on December 18. The Buffs are the only nonconference opponent of CMU's to appear in the initial top 25 poll.

Colorado Mesa earns their preseason national ranking after finishing the 2022-23 season at 25-6, with a 19-3 RMAC record. The Mavericks were co-RMAC regular season champions along with Fort Lewis and earned the right to host the RMAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed. Colorado Mesa qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season, extending a program record.

The Mavericks open their season on November 10 against DBU, and will face St. Edward's the following day. Both of those games will be in Austin, Texas. CMU's home openers will be the following weekend, with the Mavs hosting Texas A&M-Kingsville and Texas A&M International on November 17-18.

The first regular season version of the NABC Coaches Poll will be released on November 21.