BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference announced the 2023-24 NSIC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll on Thursday morning and Concordia-St. Paul was picked to finish 12^th.
 
NSIC coaches rank each team from 1 to 14 with a first-place vote receiving 14 points, second place 13, third place 12, etc. Coaches do not rank their own team or vote for their own players in the preseason poll.
 
The Golden Bears tallied 73 points in the poll, putting them just one point behind Wayne State in 11^th, seven points behind Winona State in 10^th and 11 points behind Minot State in ninth in a middle section of the poll.
 
Minnesota Duluth was selected by the league coaches as the preseason favorite in the NSIC for the 2023-24 season. The Bulldogs received 195 points, garnering 13 first places votes to sit 18 points ahead of second place Minnesota State. The Mavericks had 177 points and the other two first-place votes. The defending regular season champions of Northern State were third with 160 points.
 
CSP senior guard Antwan Kimmons was named a played to watch this season after a stellar debut season last year after transferring in from Northern Iowa. The Tartan HS grad was named NSIC Newcomer of the Year and All-NSIC First Team as he ranked third in the NSIC with 21.1 points per game, seventh with 3.9 assists per game, eighth with 1.4 steals per game and 10^th with 4.8 defensive rebounds per game.
 
The NSIC regular season championship will be based on the 22-game schedule. Each team will play eight teams twice and another six teams once. An NSIC Champion will be awarded to the team with the highest win percentage in the 22 games played.
 
The 2023-24 men's basketball season gets underway on Nov. 11-12 in Wichita, Kan. as CSP takes on Newman and Rogers State in the opening weekend. Concordia's home opener is scheduled for Nov. 18 against Northern Michigan before NSIC play kicks off on Nov. 21 at Winona State.
 
The 12-team NSIC Men's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championships are set to take place March 2-5 at the Sanford Health Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The top four seeds will receive a first-round bye. First round games will be played on campus on Wednesday, February 28.