ORLANDO, Fla. - Embry-Riddle men's basketball selected to finish eighth in the 2026-27 Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced by the league office on Wednesday afternoon.

The Eagles received 67 points in the poll, landing one point shy of Lynn (66) in seventh and 17 points ahead of Eckerd (84) in ninth.

Nova Southeastern has been picked as the preseason favorite, receiving nine of the 11 first-place votes. Palm Beach Atlantic follows as the second preseason choice with two first-place votes, with Florida Southern following in third.

Last season, ERAU finished sixth in the SSC standings with a 10-10 conference record and 13-15 overall tally. The Eagles closed out the 2025-26 season with a narrow 90-86 defeat in the first round of the SSC Tournament at Florida Southern.

Embry-Riddle returns eight Eagles from last year's squad, most notably led by redshirt senior Jack Klinger. Klinger finished the last campaign as NCAA Division II's leader in field goal percentage, shooting 70.5% from the field in 28 games for 362 total points. In addition to Klinger, ERAU welcomes back guards Evan Montanari and Logan Lewis who combined for over 400 points last season.

The Eagles tip-off the season on Friday, Oct. 24 with an exhibition against NCAA Division I Mercer, welcoming the Bears to the ICI Center for a Ridder versus Ridder showdown. In his final season leading ERAU, head coach Steve Ridder invites son and head coach of Mercer, Ryan Ridder to Daytona Beach for a unique start to the season.

026-27 SSC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll

Rank	School	Points
1	Nova Southeastern	11 (9)
2	Palm Beach Atlantic	21 (2)
3	Florida Southern	28
4	Tampa	40
5	Barry	42
6	Rollins	64
7	Lynn	66
8	Embry-Riddle	67
9	Eckerd	84
10	Saint Leo	90
11	Florida Tech	92

First-place votes in parentheses. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their own teams. Teams are ranked by total points, with the lowest point total receiving the highest ranking.