We’ve already talked about the ODAC this past week. Hampden-Sydney was picked first in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference preseason poll. But now it seems the Tigers are getting some national attention as well. 

In the first national poll released Friday, Hampden-Sydney College is ranked No. 8. To be clear, this is the highest preseason national ranking for the Tigers since 2003-04 when the program was ranked fifth to begin the campaign. The Garnet & Grey earned 382 points in the poll to easily secure a spot among the Top 10 nationally. Hampden-Sydney completed 2022-23 with a final record of 22-7, its finest season in 10 years, while advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament-only its fourth 20-win season in 20 years.

A look at the D3 Top Ten

The preseason Top 10 includes defending Division III National Champion Christopher Newport University (624 points) at No. 1, followed by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (No. 2, 580 points), John Carroll (OH) University (No. 3, 519), Keene State (NH) College (No. 4, 507), the University of Mount Union (OH) (No. 5, 496), Oswego State (NY) (No. 6, 431), Williams (MA) College (No. 7, 389), No. 8 H-SC, New York University (No. 9, 332) and Calvin (MI) University (No. 10, 326). Hampden-Sydney’s fellow ODAC member and rival Randolph-Macon College is ranked 14th nationally (244) in the preseason. In addition to CNU, John Carroll and Randolph-Macon, the Tigers have No. 11 Swarthmore (PA) College (325), the University of Mary Washington (RV, 45) and Widener (PA) University (RV, 10) on the challenging 2023-24 schedule.

Coming up for Hampden-Sydney

Hampden-Sydney will open at home in a non-conference contest against top-ranked CNU on Wednesday, November 8. That’ll take place at 7 p.m. in S. Douglas Fleet Gymnasium at Kirby Field House in a battle of Top 10 teams. The Tigers and Captains split two games last season, with H-SC winning 85-70 on December 13, 2022 in Newport News, and CNU winning 72-59 on March 4 in Fleet Gym during the second round of the NCAA Tournament.