The Midwest Conference released its 2025-26 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll Wednesday afternoon and Lake Forest College was ranked fourth.
Voting is done by the MWC head volleyball coaches. Each coach votes for the other eight schools in the league in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (eight points for first, seven for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
Monmouth College was atop the poll with 60 points and garnered seven of the nine first-place votes. Grinnell College and Illinois College split the other two top selections and tallied 52 and 52 points, respectively. Lake Forest was next with 40 points, seven more than fifth-place Ripon College. In order, Lawrence University, Cornell College, Beloit College, and Knox College rounded out the poll.
The Foresters return eight players from last year's team that posted an overall record of 14-13, placed fourth in the MWC at 10-6 in league play, and advanced to the championship game of the MWC Tournament. Among the returners is junior wing Alex Forowycz, a Second Team All-MWC selection who ranked second in the conference in three-pointers and made 43 of 45 free throw attempts during league contests.
The team's second season with Matt Griggs as head coach will begin at home against North Park Univresity on Saturday. Lake Forest's first league game will be played at Lawrence University on December 6 and the conference schedule will conclude at Monmouth College on February 18. The top four teams in the conference will qualify for the MWC Tournament, which will be hosted by the league champion February 27-28.
The Foresters are looking to reach the MWC Tournament in back-to-back seasons and have qualified for the event six of the last nine times it was held.
| PLACE |
TEAM (First Place Votes) |
POINTS |
| 1 |
Monmouth College (7) |
60 |
| 2 |
Grinnell College (1) |
56 |
| 3 |
Illinois College (1) |
52 |
| 4 |
Lake Forest College |
40 |
| 5 |
Ripon College |
33 |
| 6 |
Lawrence University |
27 |
| 7 |
Cornell College |
24 |
| 8 |
Beloit College |
12 |
| 9 |
Knox College |
10 |
