PITTSBURGH — VCU has been selected as the Atlantic 10 Conference men’s basketball favorite for the 2025-26 season in the league’s annual preseason poll. The conference announced the poll and Preseason All-Conference awards Tuesday in conjunction with its annual Media Day and 50^th Anniversary Celebration Luncheon, held at PPG Paints Arena. The awards and poll were chosen by the league’s head coaches and select media members.
 
VCU, which garnered 11 first place votes and 342 points in the preseason poll, will be under the guidance of Phil Martelli, Jr. who enters his first season as head coach at VCU. Reaching the 20-win plateau in his first two years as head coach, Martelli takes over a program that shared the A-10 regular season title last year with a 15-3 record, and won the Atlantic 10 Championship last year, earning a NCAA Tournament bid, finishing with a 28-7 mark. The Rams added seven players through the transfer portal including Preseason All-Conference Second Team selections Barry Evans, Jadrian Tracey and Tyrell Ward and Preseason Third Team honoree Ahmad Nowell. Returnee Brandon Jennings was named to the Preseason All-Defensive Team.
 
Saint Louis is just behind VCU with 341 poll points, also earning 11 first-place votes. The Billikens were tied for fifth last year in the A-10 with an 11-7 record, finishing at 19-15 overall. They return fan-favorite Robbie Avila, who’s 17.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game earned an All-Conference nod. He garnered Preseason All-Conference First Team accolades this season.
 
Dayton was chosen third with 321 points and three first-place votes. The Flyers are led by Javon Bennett, a First Team Preseason selection, Second Team selection Amaël L’Etang, and graduate transfer Keonte Jones, who was named to the Preseason Third Team. Bennett was also named to the Preseason All-Defensive team. Dayton was 23-11 overall last year and 12-6 in league play, tying for third place.
 
George Washington was chosen fourth in the poll with 296 points. Rafael Castro was a Preseason All-Conference First Team and Preseason All-Defensive team selection, and Tre Dinkins III was also named to the Preseason All-Conference Second Team. The Revolutionaries also had Trey Autry and Christian Jones selected to the Preseason Third Team, meaning all four of the GW preseason honorees are returnees from last year’s squad. GW was 21-13 last season and 9-9 in league play.
 
Led by Preseason All-Conference First Team selection Miles Rubin, who was also named to the Preseason All-Defensive Team, Loyola Chicago garnered 286 poll points with two first place nods to rank fifth in the poll. The Ramblers were 12-6 in league play and 25-12 overall.
 
Brayden O’Connor, a Preseason First Team pick, headlines George Mason, which placed sixth in the poll with 254 points. The Patriots were Co-Champions at 15-3 in league play last year and were 27-9 overall. Saint Joseph’s was seventh in the poll with 195 points, with Deuce Jones landing on the Preseason All-Conference First Team and Justice Ajogbor was named to the Preseason All-Defensive Team.
 
St. Bonaventure was picked eighth with 185 points, and Duquesne was ninth with 155 points. Bonnies’ Dasonte Bowen was named to the Preseason All-Conference Second Team.
 
Richmond (142 points), Davidson (107 points) and Rhode Island (102 points) placed 10^th, 11^th and 12^th respectively. La Salle and Fordham and rounded out the poll in order.
 
The 2025-26 men’s basketball season tips off on Monday, Nov. 3 while Conference play begins on Tuesday, Dec. 30. The season, during which the Atlantic 10 is celebrating its 50^th Anniversary, will culminate with the Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Championship, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, the site of the first A-10 conference office. The league’s premier event will begin Wednesday, March 11, and the league will crown its champion on March 15, Selection Sunday on CBS.