Part 4: 2026-27 SoCon Preview: The lower tier and the longshots

The final portion of the 2026-27 Mid-Major Madness preview series for SoCon basketball takes a look at three unique situations, with newcomer Tennessee Tech introducing an new unknown into the equation, and with a loaded roster, the Golden Eagles will without question compete right away, but can they handle the rigors of a road environment on a random Wednesday night in the SoCon at Cameron Hall or Timmons Arena?

What about the home atmosphere? Can the Hooper-Eblen Center keep on par with a majority of the league’s other home venues and become an intimidating fortress?

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Then, there is The Citadel, which brings perhaps more momentum into a season than it has in over a decade since the last time Ed Conroy was the head coach. The Bulldogs have put together their most talented portal class to date under Conroy, and if preseason results are any indicator of projected success, than being a “long shot” in this tough league might be much too low of expectation for The Citadel in 2026-27. Still, as talented as the Bulldogs are, they have to go out and prove that they are the real deal and not the Bulldogs we’ve known so many times before.

Finally, UNCG brings a new coach on-board, in Jerod Haase, and the big question is can this program recover its status as being a perennial title contender, and if so, how long will it take Haase to build that strong foundation and rebuild that winning culture that the Spartans were able to build and sustain under Wes Miller and Mike Jones for the past 11 seasons, winning 233 games, which is the second most wins only to Furman’s 245 victories in that same span.

Tennessee Tech (13-19, 8-12 OVC/ninth)

Change is something that has been needed for a long time in Cookeville for the men’s basketball program at Tennessee Tech.

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The dominoes started to fall in favor of change even before the 2025-26 season when it was announced in July 2025 that the Golden Eagles would be joining the SoCon as its newest league member. Then came the…

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Publish date : 2026-11-02 05:37:00

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