BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference announced the 2026-27 NSIC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll on Friday morning and Concordia-St. Paul was picked to finish fifth overall.

In the separate NSIC South Division poll, the Golden Bears were picked fifth with 25 votes. 
 
NSIC coaches rank each team in the NSIC in the overall poll and team from their division in the divisional poll.  In the overall poll coaches rank from 1 to 15 with a first place vote receiving 15 points, second place 14, third place 13, etc. Coaches do not rank their own team or vote for their own players. 

The Golden Bears tallied 153 points in the overall poll, putting them 17 points behind fourth-place Southwest Minnesota State and nine points ahead of sixth-place Augustana. 

Minnesota State was picked to win the conference with 216 points and eight first-place votes, while defending NSIC champions St. Cloud State were picked second with 211 points and six first-place votes. 

"This team will be a lot of fun to watch. We have more size, athletic ability, and depth than we ever have. We return 14 guys from last years 19 win team and added a few key pieces to the mix," said Head Coach Matt Fletcher. "I feel like we will have a chance to win every night we take the floor. We will look and play a little bit different than we have the past couple years, and that has been a lot of fun to watch them grow and play this way together. They play their tails off."
 
Entering his fourth season with the program, senior guard Owen Carlson was tabbed CSP's player to watch this season. Carlson played in 27 games and made 14 starts for the Golden Bears last season, averaging 13.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while shooting 46 percent from beyond the arc, the second best mark in the conference. 

"Owen is a phenomenal player, leader, and has emerged as one of the best guards in this conference," said Fletcher. "He works hard every day to get better, his jump shot is one of the best in the league, and he is a crazy athlete. I am very excited to see him take over for us as a "go to" guy and help us every night."

The regular season champion will be based on the 22-game NSIC schedule. Each team will play teams in their division twice (14 divisional games) and teams in the other division once (8 out-of-division games). An NSIC North and South Division Champion will also be awarded. Divisional standings will also be based on all 22 NSIC contests played. In the event of a tie, co-champions will be awarded. 

The 2026-27 men's basketball season gets underway at the end of October with non-conference action, while NSIC play begins on Tuesday, November 24.

The 12-team NSIC Men's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championship are set to take place February 27-March 2 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The tournament will be seeded using the NSIC 22-game schedule, with the top four seeds receiving a first-round bye. First round games will be played on campus on Wednesday, February 24.