October 20, 2025
MADISON, S.D. – The Frontier Conference announced their 2025-26 Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Poll Monday morning. Dakota State was picked to finish ninth in the coaches' preseason poll with 50 points.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams. The Frontier Conference has expanded to 12 full-time institutions this year. First place is worth 11 points, second place is worth 10 points, third place is worth nine points, and so on to the last place with one point.
Montana Tech was the coaches' pick to win the Frontier Conference Men's Basketball title. The Orediggers had won the past four conference titles. MT collected 11 first place votes and 121 points to the preseason poll.
Carroll and Montana Western were tied for second in the preseason poll with 89 points each. The Bulldogs earned the final first place vote in the poll.
Providence (Mont.), who advanced to last year's Frontier Conference postseason tournament's championship game, finished fourth in the poll with 81 points. Dickinson State (N.D.), 2025 North Star Athletic Association regular season and tournament title winners, was fifth with 75 points.
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) finished sixth with 73 points, edging Bellevue (Neb.) by two points (71 points, seventh place). MSU-Northern placed 10
th with 39 points, Valley City State (N.D.) 11
th with 34 points, and Bismarck State (N.D.) 12
th with 17 points.
The 2025-26 NAIA Men's Basketball season officially kicks off Thursday. Dakota State makes their debut under first-year head coach
Kevin Williamson on Thursday, Oct. 30, versus Oak Hills (Minn.) at DSU Fieldhouse. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. The Trojans will be hosting their alumni scrimmage on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Each Frontier Conference school will play a total of 22 conference games on their 2025-26 schedule, playing home-and-away contests. They are scheduled to play 11 home league games and 11 road conference contests.
Dakota State opens their 22 Frontier Conference slate on Saturday, Nov. 15 at Bellevue (Neb.), followed by home contests versus Providence on Nov. 21 and MSU-Northern on Nov. 22.
The top eight teams in the Frontier Conference standings will advance to the postseason tournament, hosted by Montana Tech at Civic Center in Butte. The four-day conference tournament begins with a pair of quarterfinals on Feb. 27 (Friday) and Feb. 28 (Saturday), followed by the semifinals on March 1 (Sunday). Those games are scheduled for 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (Mountain Time).
The Frontier Conference tournament's championship game is slated for Monday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. (MT).
The league will have two automatic bids for the NAIA Men's Basketball National Tournament, starting with the First and Second Rounds on March 13-14, 2026. The opening round winners advance to the final site at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., on March 19-24, 2026.
The first automatic berth will be awarded to the regular-season champion. The second berth will be awarded to the Frontier Conference Postseason Tournament Champion. In the event the regular season champion is the tournament champion, then the second berth will be awarded to the regular-season runner-up.
Below is the complete 2025-26 Frontier Conference Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Poll:
| 2025-26 Frontier Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll |
| Rank |
School (First Place Votes) |
Total Points |
| 1 |
Montana Tech (11) |
121 |
| T2 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
89 |
| T2 |
Montana Western (1) |
89 |
| 4 |
Providence (Mont.) |
81 |
| 5 |
Dickinson State (N.D.) |
75 |
| 6 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
73 |
| 7 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
71 |
| 8 |
Mayville State (N.D.) |
53 |
| 9 |
Dakota State (S.D.) |
50 |
| 10 |
MSU-Northern |
39 |
| 11 |
Valley City State (N.D.) |
34 |
| 12 |
Bismarck State (N.D.) |
17 |
