The New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll has been released, and the two NEWMAC teams that advanced to last year’s NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship are the preseason favorites for the new campaign.
Babson earned five of the nine first-place votes after a solid season that included a second-place regular-season finish and a third NEWMAC Men’s Basketball Championship title in four years.
Reigning regular-season champion Worcester Polytechnic landed at No. 2 with one first-place nod.
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In an era where players are jumping from team to team like the entire foundation of college sports is a trampoline park, Babson will return to action led by 2025-2026 NEWMAC Rookie of the Year, Thomas Ferdinando, as well as NEWMAC All-Conference first-teamer Timmy Mulvey.
WPI also will have a returning star in Justin Molen, a 6-foot-7 senior forward who was the NEWMAC Athlete of the Year last season. He averaged 16.5 points per game and finished as the only player in the conference ranked in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and assists.
Molen and the Engineers will be seeking their six consecutive regular-season title and another successful run under longtime head coach Chris Bartley. With him at the helm, WPI has won 20 or more games 19 times in his 25 years on the sideline.
Before things get going during the first week of November, here’s a look at NEWMAC men’s basketball:
What Teams Play Men’s Basketball In The NEWMAC?
For the 2026-2027 season, the nine men’s basketball programs in the NEWMAC are:
2026-27 NEWMAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
Team, Points (First-Place Votes)
- Babson – 61 (5)
- WPI – 54 (1)
- Salve Regina – 47
- MIT – 38 (3)
- Wheaton – 36
- Emerson – 29
- Clark – 26
- Springfield – 19
- Coast Guard – 14
NEWMAC Men’s Basketball Will Grow By One Team For The 2027-2028 Season
The NEWMAC will have a new contender on the hardwood next season, as the conference will be adding Northeast 10/Division II standout Saint Anselm.
The school has accepted an invitation to join the NEWMAC, effective July 1, 2027, and the men’s basketball team could be a serious threat right away.
Here’s a look at NE10 men’s basketball heading into the 2026-2027 slate: 5 Things To Know About Northeast 10 Men's Basketball For The 2026-2027 Season
What Happened In The NEWMAC During The 2025-2026 Season?
The battle for the hardware in the NEWMAC during the 2025-2026 was intense, with WPI edging Babson for the regular-season title.
The Engineers defeated the Beavers twice during the campaign and landed at the top of the conference standings with a 14-2 record. Babson was 13-3.
As the top two teams at the end of the regular season, they earned the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds for the 2026 NEWMAC Men’s Basketball Championship, and that’s where Babson found some redemption.
Following their first-round bye, the Beavers rolled past Salve Regina in the semifinals (78-58) and Wheaton in the final (81-56) to earn a third crown in four seasons.
Babson cruised into the Division III Men’s Basketball Championship, which it won in 2017, on a nine-game winning streak and added one more victory before bowing out with a loss to Trinity. The Beavers finished the season at 22-7 overall.
WPI also advanced to the national tournament with an at-large bid but suffered a first-round loss to Amherst, finishing the campaign at 21-6 overall.
2025-2026 NEWMAC Men’s Basketball Standings
Team (Overall, NEWMAC)
- WPI (14-2, 21-6)
- Babson (13-3, 22-7)
- Salve Regina (11-5, 19-8)
- Wheaton (8-8, 17-11)
- Springfield (8-8, 10-16)
- Clark (7-9, 12-14)
- Emerson (5-11, 9-16)
- Coast Guard (4-12, 8-17)
- MIT (2-14, 6-19)
- Regular-season champion: WPI
- NEWMAC Men;s Basketball Championship: Babson def. Wheaton, 81-56
2025-2026 NEWMAC Men’s Basketball Award Winners
- Athlete of the Year: Justin Molen, WPI
- Defensive Player of the Year: Timmy O'Toole, Babson College
- Rookie of the Year: Thomas Ferdinando, Babson College
- Laurels of Academic Excellence- Eoin Morrissey, Wheaton College; Max Purushothaman, Babson College
- Coaching Staff of the Year: Salve Regina University
Who Won The 2026 NEWMAC Men’s Basketball Championship?
Babson entered the 2026 NEWMAC Men’s Basketball Championship with a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed, an honor shared by regular-division champion WPI.
The Beavers won the tournament for the third time in four years with a pair of blowout wins, while WPI was routed by Wheaton in the semifinals (82-60).
Check out the round-by-round scores from the 2026 tournament:
First Round
- No. 5 Springfield 52, No. 4 Wheaton 60 - Final
- No. 6 Clark 61, No. 3 Salve Regina 67 – Final
Semifinals
- No. 4 Wheaton 82, No. 1 WPI 60 – Final
- No. 3 Salve Regina 58, No. 2 Babson 78– Final
Championship
- No. 4 Wheaton 56, No. 2 Babson 81 - Final
When Is The 2027 NEWMAC Men’s Basketball Championship?
The six-team single-elimination NEWMAC Men’s Basketball Championship will take place Feb. 23-27.
First-round play will be Feb. 23, semifinal action will take place Feb. 25 and the final will be played Feb. 27. The higher seed for each game will host.
The higher seeds will host the opening round, with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds having byes. Those top teams will host the semifinal games against the winners from the first round.
All selections and seeding for the national tournament will be announced March 7, and regional competition at campus sites around the country will begin March 13.
Babson owns the most NEWMAC Championship titles with seven, earned in 10 trips to the tournament final. The Beavers have won three of the last four conference tournaments (2023, 2024, 2026)
MIT and Clark are second and third on the list with six and five trophies, respectively.
How Many Teams Participate In The Division III Basketball Championship?
The number of participating teams for the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship has changed many times over the years.
The inaugural edition in 1975 had 30 teams. There were 28 in 1976, and then it went back to 30.
In 1980, there were 32 teams. In 1989, it expanded to 40. Finally, in 1995, the field ballooned to 64 teams split into four sectionals, but the change only lasted three years, before it was changed to 48.
The number slowly increased again, until the full 64-team bracket returned in 2017.
The NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship needed just one year to double in size, as 32 teams participated in 1983. That number remained steady, though regional brackets were introduced in 1989. In 1994, 40 teams played. Then 64 in 1995.
Denison & Mary Washington Are The Reigning Division III National Champions
The last four teams standing in the 2026 NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship were Denison, NYU, Scranton and Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and Denison went on to claim its first national title with a 55-41 victory over Scranton at the Cregger Center in Salem, Virginia.
On the men’s side, it was Christopher Newport, Emory, Mary Washington and Trinity College (CT) at the national semifinals in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with Mary Washington topping Emory 75-73 for the trophy in Indianapolis.
2026 Division III Basketball Championship Brackets
Here’s a look at how things unfolded in 2026:
No. 19 WPI Men's Basketball Drains 17 Triples In Road Win Vs MIT
The Worcester Polytechnic Institute men were cooking from beyond the arch in their 104-67 road win vs NEWMAC rival MIT during the 2026-2027 season.
Five different WPI players drained multiple 3-pointers.
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