LAKE CHARLES – McNeese men's basketball made significant jumps and some debuts in all of the top college basketball mid-major polls this week after going 3-0 and winning the Cayman Islands Classic against some of the top mid-major programs in the nation.
 
The Cowboys climbed to No. 16 in the CollegeInsider.com poll and up to No. 5 in the T3 One-Bid League Top 32 rankings. McNeese made its debut in the Mid-Major Madness Top 25 poll, tied at No. 21 with UNLV, and is No. 20 in the Mid-Major Power 25 ranking.
 
In addition, McNeese moved up to No. 78 in the latest KenPom rankings. The NCAA will release its first NET rankings on Monday, December 2.
 
Statistically, the Cowboys are ranked No. 1 in the Southland Conference in 17 categories – FG percentage (50.9), FG percent defense (36.5), FT percentage (78.8), scoring offense (93.0), scoring defense (66.3), scoring margin (26.7), steals per game (11.7), turnovers forced per game (19.0), turnover margin (9.6), fewest turnovers committed per game (9.4), offensive rebounds per game (14.6), FT made per game (21.3), FT attempts per game (27.0), fastbreak points per game (23.1), bench points per game (45.0), assist/turnover ratio (1.91), and winning percentage (85.7).
 
McNeese is ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA in turnover margin (2^nd), turnovers forced per game (4^th), bench points per game (4^th), fastbreak points (6^th), steals per game (8^th), and scoring margin (10^th).
 
Individually, freshman Larry Johnson is 22^nd in the nation in FG shooting (65.7), 42^nd in total field goals made (46), 43^rd in total points scored (130), and 47^th in FT shooting (92.1). Javon Garcia and Garwey Dual are first in the league and No. 42 nationally with 15 total steals each. Dual is also first in the conference and 50^th in the NCAA with 35 total assists.
 
McNeese will be back in action on Monday when it begins the defense of its Southland Conference championship with a visit to UIW. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at UIW's McDermott Center. The game will broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25
1. Gonzaga
2. Saint Mary's
3. Liberty
4. Yale
5. Miami (OH)
6. High Point
7. Akron
8. Northern Iowa
9. San Francisco
10. Santa Clara
11. Belmont
12. Kent State
13. Buffalo
14. UNCW
15. Loyola Marymount
16. McNeese
17. California Baptist
18. Illinois State
19. New Mexico State
20. UC San Diego
21. Towson
22. Kennesaw State
23. Northern Colorado
24. USCB
25. Seattle
 
Mid-Major Madness Top 25
1. Saint Mary's
2. Utah State
3. Saint Louis
4. Dayton
5. Liberty
6. San Diego State
7. George Mason
8. Northern Iowa
T9. San Francisco
T9. Santa Clara
11. Akron
12. VCU
13. Yale
14. Loyola Marymount
15. High Point
16. Colorado State
17. Boise State
T18. California Baptist
T18. South Florida
20. Troy
T21. McNeese
T21. UNLV
23. Belmont
24. George Washington
25. Wichita State
 
Mid-Major Power 25
1. Gonzaga
2. Saint Mary's
3. Utah State
4. Saint Louis
5. San Diego State
6. Liberty
7. Dayton
8. Santa Clara
9. George Washington
10. San Francisco
11. George Mason
12. VCU
13. Northern Iowa
14. Boise State
15. Colorado State
16. St. Bonaventure
17. Akron
18. South Florida
19. High Point
20. McNeese
21. Belmont
22. Loyola Marymount
23. California Baptist
24. Seattle
25. Tulsa
 
T3 One-Bid League Mid-Major Top 32
1. Liberty
2. Northern Iowa
3. Akron
4. Yale
5. McNeese
6. Belmont
7. Hawaii
8. Troy
9. Buffalo
10. High Point
11. California Baptist
12. Miami (OH)
13. New Mexico State
14. Middle Tennessee State
15. Murray State
16. Stephen F. Austin
17. Kent State
18. Quinnipiac
19. San Diego
20. UNCW
21. UCSB
22. Marshall
23. Lamar
24. Montana
25. New Orleans
26. UT Martin
27. Western Kentucky
28. San Diego State
29. Iona
30. UC Davis
31. Cal Poly
T32. Central Connecticut State
T32. North Dakota State