ODESSA, Texas (October 20, 2025) – Heading into the 2025-26 University of Texas Permian Basin men's basketball season, the Falcons were projected to finish ninth in the Lone Star Conference, receiving 468 total points in the preseason polling of league head coaches, media and sports information directors and announced by the conference office on Monday morning (Oct. 20).

During the 2024-25 campaign, the Falcons were correctly predicted to finish ninth in the preseason poll. The Falcons started the season 12-3 overall and 8-1 in the LSC. It was Falcons' best start in the LSC since starting 8-1 during the 2017-18 season. The Falcons opened the month of February by improving to 15-6 overall and 11-4 in the LSC and led the LSC West Division (7-2) until February 6. In the end, however, UTPB fell 74-67 at Angelo State during the regular-season finale. It was the second year in a row the Falcons were kept out of the postseason by falling to the Rams in the final game of the regular season. In addition, UTPB's season has ended at the hands of the Rams during all four of Head Coach Kyle Tolin's seasons leading the Falcons. UTPB finished its 2024-25 season 16-12 overall, 12-10 in the LSC, and was sixth in the LSC West Division for the second year in a row, this time at 7-7. They will hope to prove the rankings wrong this time around and make the postseason for the first time since 2022.

This upcoming season, UTPB will have the tough task of replacing four seniors who earned All-LSC honors a year ago. Alex Matthews and Dario Domingos were both named second-team all-conference while Maison Adeleye and DJ Armstrong were named to the third-team. Each of the four players started in all 28 games for the Falcons last season.

2025-26 LSC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
DBU is predicted to win its second consecutive Lone Star Conference men's basketball regular season title according to the 2025-26 preseason poll. DBU totaled 850 points and collected 42 of the possible 51 first-place votes to be the favorite. Head coach Blake Flickner's Patriots went 34-5 overall and 19-3 in league play last season. DBU won its first LSC regular season championship, LSC tournament title and NCAA Division II South Central Regional crown – on its home court – in program history. The Patriots advanced all the way to the national semifinals of the NCAA tournament and finished the year ranked No. 4 in the nation.

St. Mary's is picked as the conference runner-up with 724 points and two first-place votes. Head coach Bubba Meyer's Rattlers went 20-11 overall and 16-6 in LSC play last season and reached the semifinals of the South Central Regional.

Two-time LSC champion Lubbock Christian is predicted to finish in third place with 720 points and four first-place votes. The Chaps went 25-9 overall and 18-4 in league play last season. LCU was runner-up in both the LSC regular season and tournament and earned a berth in the South Central Regional. They finished ranked No. 21 in the country.

St. Edward's is the fourth-place pick with 669 points. The Hilltoppers, who went 20-11 overall and 14-8 in LSC play in 2024-25, advanced to South Central Regional.

West Texas A&M, which has won 11 LSC championships and five out of the last eight, is selected for a fifth-place finish with 654 points and two first-place votes. Two-time LSC champion Angelo State and Eastern New Mexico tied for sixth place with 592 points. Nine-time LSC champion Midwestern State collected 558 points to round out what would be the potential eight teams to qualify for the LSC tournament. WT and MSU both earned NCAA tournament bids last year.

UT Permian Basin is picked to finish in ninth place with 468 points and Texas A&M International (350 points) round out the top 10. TAMIU picked up the final first-place vote.

Texas A&M-Kingsville (330 points) is picked in the No. 11 spot, followed by Cameron (301 points), Oklahoma Christian (266 points), UT Tyler (260 points), Western New Mexico (193 points), new league member UT Dallas (188 points) and Sul Ross State (88 points).

2025-26 LSC Men's Basketball Preseason Player to Watch
Graduate student forward Tash Lunday, a Kinesiology master's student from Flandreau, South Dakota, was named to the LSC Players to Watch list. Lunday begins his first season at UTPB after transferring from Mount Marty University, an NAIA school in South Dakota, where he spent the last three seasons. Lunday was a two-time Second-Team All-Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) selection in 2022-23 and 2024-25 and helped his team qualify for the conference tournament in 2024-25 after averaging nearly 20 points (19.8) and over eight rebounds (8.2) per game. Lunday graduated with his Bachelor's Degree in Exercise Science focused on Pre-Physical Therapy.

Season Opener Draws Near
The 2025-26 LSC basketball schedule – which begins as early as Oct. 31 – features 17 men's teams. Each team plays 20 conference games – 10 at home and 10 on the road.

LSC Hoops Week is October 20-24. Watch interviews from all 17 men's basketball teams and the preseason player of the year on the conference's YouTube page.

The Falcons will open their 2025-26 season with an exhibition game at NCAA Division I The University of Texas at El Paso starting at 8 p.m. Central Time / 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time on Monday, November 3, in El Paso, Texas. The regular season will then tip off as the Falcons host the South Central Region Challenge inside the Falcon Dome. UTPB will face Adams State University at 4 p.m. on Friday, November 14 (4 p.m.) and Western Colorado University at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 15.

The 2026 LSC Basketball Championship features an eight-team field with seeding based on conference game results. The men's tournament is scheduled for March 5-8 at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas. Tickets will go on sale in February.

Fans can watch all LSC home basketball games and the conference tournaments on FloCollege (monthly and yearly subscriptions are available).