Thomasville, NC - Pfeiffer University tops the 2004-2005 preseason poll as voted on by the conference coaches. 

The Falcons are coming off of a dream season in which they swept the CVAC regular season, conference tournament championship, and NCAA East Regional Championships before losing to the eventual national champion in the NCAA Elite Eight game. With their 31-3 (18-2 CVAC) record, they dominated the preseason poll taking 9 of 11 first place votes.  Current Coach of the Year Dave Davis will rely on returning All-CVAC first team senior Rico Grier to control the team reigns.  Grier was recently selected to the Street & Smith’s Preseason All-American Honorable Mention Team for the upcoming year.

Mount Olive moves near the top of the survey with a #2 position in the preseason coach’s poll.  The Trojans return three full or part-time starters from last year’s squad, which set a school-record for most wins in a season with a 23-8 (15-5 CVAC) record.  Last year’s team achieved its first-ever national ranking and reached the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament for the first time in school history.  Fifteen year veteran Head Coach Bill Clingan adds, “We should be a deeper and more athletic team this season. The loss of last year’s seniors might hurt us early, but we feel very upbeat about the team chemistry we’ve seen during preseason workouts.”

Belmont Abbey College finishes third in the preseason balloting for the second consecutive year as they finished the year with a 19-9 (12-8 CVAC) mark.  New Head Coach Dale Kuhl will look for his two returning All-CVAC standouts, senior Rafael Moreira & junior Damien Humphrey, to build from last years experience and provide some leadership for new goals in the upcoming season.

Rounding out the men's poll 4-11 was: Queens, Anderson, Barton, Erskine, Limestone, Lees-McRae, Coker and St. Andrews respectively.

CVAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll  (# of First place votes in parenthesis)

1.         Pfeiffer University                              (9)        97

2.         Mt. Olive College                              (2)        88

3.         Belmont Abbey College                                 78

4.         Queens University of Charlotte                     73

5.         Anderson College                                          59

6.         Barton College                                               52

7.         Erskine College                                             44

8.         Limestone College                                         43

9.         Lees-McRae College                                     31

10.       Coker College                                                21

11.       St. Andrews Presbyterian College                 19