LAKE CHARLES – McNeese's men's basketball team moved up in all of the NCAA mid-major top 25 polls that were released on Monday.
 
McNeese, now 10-2 on the season for the second time in the last three years, saw its biggest move in the Mid-Major Madness poll where it jumped four spots from a tie for 17^th to a tie for 13^th.
 
The Cowboys moved up two spots to No. 17 in the CollegeInsider.com poll, is 14^th in the Mid-Major Basketball Power 25, and is No. 6 in the T3 One-Bid League Mid-Major Top 32 poll.
 
As of Monday evening, McNeese is ranked No. 47 in the NCAA NET Rankings while sitting at No. 65 in the KenPom ratings.
 
The Cowboys will be back in action next Monday, December 29, when takes on the Michigan Wolverines, who are ranked No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 2 in the AP Poll.
 
Looking at the stats, McNeese is ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA in six categories – 2^nd, turnover margin (8.1); 2^nd, fastbreak points (21.8); 3^rd, steals per game (11.4); 3^rd, bench points per game (42.8); 5^th, turnovers forced per game (18.4); 9^th, scoring margin (22.4).
 
The Cowboys are ranked No. 1 in the Southland Conference in 14 different categories including scoring offense (88.0), scoring defense (65.6), and winning percentage (83.3).
 
Individually, Garwey Dual is 20^th in the NCAA with 29 total steals and 22^nd with 2.4 steals per game. Larry Johnson is 39^th in the nation in field goal percentage (59.7) and 42^nd in free throw percentage (90.0).
 
Cowboy Clips:
• McNeese's 10-2 start marks just the second time in school history the team has won 10 games through its first 12. The other time coming two years ago.
• Should Michigan keep its No. 1 ranking in the coaches poll, it'll be the first time in school history for McNeese to play a No. 1 ranked team. Three times before McNeese has played the No. 2 team, most recently last season against Alabama (L, 72-64). The Cowboys also played No. 2 Michigan State in the 2013-14 season (L, 98-56) and at No. 2 Texas in 2002-03 (L, 97-59).
• After dropping its first two true road games (at Santa Clara, at UIW), McNeese has won its last two in an opponent's arena (at Rhode Island, at HCU).
• McNeese defeated Michigan 87-76 in what will be two years to the date when the Cowboys play them next Monday.
• Only two players on this year's Wolverines' team were on that squad two years ago – graduates Nimari Burnett and Will Tschetter. Burnett started in the game two years ago and has started every game this season and is averaging 8.4 points per game while making 41 percent from three-point range. Tschetter came off the bench last year and scored 11 points against the Cowboys. This year he's started in one game but has played in all, averaging 5.3 points a game.
• For the Cowboys, both Javohn Garcia and DJ Richards Jr. were on the squad when McNeese got the win in Ann Arbor. Garcia started the game and scored five points while playing 31 minutes. Richards Jr. came off the bench to score 15 points behind four three-point buckets.
• Garcia, who celebrated scoring his 1,000^th career point last season, is 51 points away from scoring 1,000 as a Cowboy.
 
CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25
1. Gonzaga
2. Yale
3. Miami (OH)
4. St. Mary's
5. Belmont
6. Akron
7. Northern Iowa
8. UC San Diego
9. Buffalo
10. Santa Clara
11. High Point
12. Kent State
13. Hawaii
14. Liberty
15. Illinois State
16. UNCW
17. McNeese
18. Murray State
19. Hofstra
20. Utah Valley
21. Seattle
22. California Baptist
23. Northern Colorado
24. Kennesaw State
25. Bradley
 
Mid-Major Madness Top 25
1. Utah State
2. Saint Louis
3. St. Mary's
4. George Mason
5. New Mexico
6. VCU
7. Yale
8. Belmont
9. San Diego State
10. Tulsa
11. Nevada
12. Miami (OH)
T13. McNeese
T13. Dayton
15. UC San Diego
16. Akron
17. Hawaii
18. Colorado State
19. Davidson
20. Seattle
T21. Murray State
T21. California Baptist
T23. Boise State
T23. Kent State
25. Santa Clara
 
Mid-Major Basketball Power 25
1. Gonzaga
2. Utah State
3. Saint Louis
4. St. Mary's
5. George Mason
6. Yale
7. Tulsa
8. Dayton
9. New Mexico
10. VCU
11. St. Bonaventure
12. San Diego State
13. Miami (OH)
14. McNeese
15. Belmont
16. Murray State
17. Akron
18. Colorado State
19. Santa Clara
20. Richmond
21. Nevada
22. Boise State
23. UC San Diego
24. Northern Iowa
25. Utah Valley
 
T3 Bracketology One-Bid League Top 32
1. Yale
2. Belmont
3. Northern Iowa
4. Murray State
5. UC San Diego
6. McNeese
7. Murray State
8. Akron
9. Liberty
10. Hawaii
11. Utah Valley
12. Kent State
13. California Baptist
14. Middle Tennessee State
15. Illinois State
16. Stephen F. Austin
17. Buffalo
18. Hofstra
19. New Mexico State
20. William & Mary
21. Quinnipiac
22. High Point
23. Sam Houston
24. UNCW
25. Towson
26. Bowling Green
27. Bradley
28. Troy
29. Columbia
30. Arkansas State
31. UCSB
32. North Dakota State