PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Little East Conference recently released their preseason Coaches' Polls for the 2025-2026 season for women's and men's basketball that saw Keene State College as the only program to place both teams in the top three across both polls.
 
On the women's side, the Owls were picked to finish third in the conference with 47 points in the polls, behind only the University of Southern Maine that was unanimously picked as the first slot, followed by Rhode Island College in second with 53 points. KSC returns most of their core players, losing only one starter, as the Owls return an experienced team, along with a large freshmen class of seven new members of the program. Valerie Luizzi and Brynn Rautiola will look to hit the 1,000-point milestone on the season as Luizzi needs 149 points and Rautiala need just 39 points to reach the milestone.
 
The Owls return to the court in their season opener on the road on Friday, November 7, at 6:00 PM at Colby-Sawyer College.
 
On the men's side, the Owls were picked to finish in first place in the LEC with 61 points, along with six first-place votes. Rounding out the top three was Western Connecticut State University with 53 votes and one first-place vote, and the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth with 48 points and another first-place vote. KSC loses some of their major pieces to the program over the past few seasons, including NABC DIlI Player of the Year Octavio Brito, but retain a bunch the roster from last year. The Owls will look to repeat as LEC Champions for a fifth-straight season this year and make another run in the NCAA Tournament, after becoming the first team in the conference to four-peat and making it to the round of 32 before losing to eventual NCAA Division III Champions Trinity College. Just as the women's team, the men's team also has seven newcomers, with three freshmen and four transfers, including 2023-2024 ODAC Rookie of the Year Jordan Cooper and 2023-2024 Empire 8 Rookie of the Year Henry Perkins.
 
The Owls kick off their 2025-2026 season on the road with a pair of games against top-25 teams at the TowneBank Tip-Off Tournament in Virginia Beach, Va. The Owls play No. 14 Virginia Wesleyan University on Friday, November 7, at 5:00 PM and then either No. 7 University of Wisconsin-La Crosse or No. 17 Hampden-Sydney College on Saturday, November 8, at 2:00 PM
or 4:00 PM, depending on the outcome of the Owls' opening contest.