RICHARDSON, Texas – Texas A&M International University men's basketball was selected to finish 16th in the 2021-2022 Lone Star Conference preseason polls. Voters include LSC head coaches, sports information directors and media representatives from around the region.

The Dustdevils earned 132 points in their 16th place selection.

Defending LSC Champion Lubbock Christian has been tabbed as the preseason favorite, earning 711 points and 26 of 44 first place votes.

NCAA Division II national runner-up West Texas A&M followed in second place, garnering 13 first place votes and a total of 681 points.

DBU followed in third place with 623 points and two first place votes, while Texas A&M-Kingsville and St. Edward's placed fourth and fifth respectively with 617 and 561 points, with a first place vote each.

Midwestern State (488), Angelo State (466), Texas &M-Commerce (462), UT Tyler (377) and UT Permian Basin (318) rounded out the top ten. The ninth place Patriots earned the final first place vote.

Taking places 11 through 15 in the poll are UAFS (305), St. Mary's (293), Oklahoma Christian (252), Eastern New Mexico (205) and Cameron (138).

Behind the Dustdevils was Western New Mexico who earned a total of 103 points.

The LSC has 17 teams set to compete in the 2021-22 basketball season, which begins this week with the D2 CCA Tipoff Classic in Canyon, Texas. Most teams will begin their seasons in early November. LSC teams will play a single round-robin conference schedule with an additional 4-5 games against conference opponents that will not count towards the league standings.

The LSC Basketball Championship will return to a 12-team field in 2022. The championships will take place March 1-3-4-5-6, 2022, with opening-round games taking place on campus followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game at a final site to be announced at a later date.

The Dustdevils tip-off the 2021-22 campaign against Chadron State on Friday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. TAMIU's first home game is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. against Southwestern Adventist.