SPEARFISH, S.D. - The Black Hills State University men's basketball team is set to begin the 2026-27 season ranked in the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top-25 Poll for the fourth time in the past five years, including now the second time in the top-10 as they were tabbed No. 6 nationally on Tuesday afternoon. The No. 6 preseason national ranking comes as the highest preseason rank in program history in the NCAA Division II era, following the school's third trip to the Elite Eight in the past five seasons, the second most of any team across the country. The 2025-26 season saw the Yellow Jackets match a school record 30 wins as they compiled a 30-5 (17-3 RMAC) mark as they also claimed the RMAC regular season and tournament championships. In the rankings, they spent the full season ranked, reaching as high as No. 10 on March 10th in the final NABC Top-25 Poll as they entered the NCAA Tournament. All-time in the NCAA Division II era, the Green & Gold are 64-15 as a ranked team, with all games in the head coach Ryan Thompson era since March 8, 2022. They hold a 27-5 record all-time as a top-10 team and are 6-0 all-time when ranked No. 6 nationally in the NABC poll. Tuesday's poll marks the 17th consecutive poll appearance. The Yellow Jackets will play one final exhibition match-up on Saturday, October 31, as they host NAIA preseason No. 4 nationally-ranked, Rocky Mountain, a squad that also reached the Elite Eight of the NAIA National Tournament. The exhibition between the Yellow Jackets and Battlin' Bears are set for a 2 p.m. tip-off inside A2 Arena with tickets available online at the link above, while season ticket holders receive free admission and children wearing a Halloween costume also receive free admission. There will be no live stream, live stats, or radio broadcast for the exhibition game. BHSU will also carry their No. 6 preseason national ranking into the first two weekends of the regular season, first putting it to the test against the 2026 NCAA Division II National Runners-Up, Lander, who enters the year ranked preseason No. 7, and 2026 NCAA Division II National Tournament Qualifier, Florida Southern, who enters the year receiving votes. The Yellow Jackets will face the Bearcats first at 1:30 p.m. MT (3:30 p.m. ET) on Saturday, November 7, and then the Mocs at 3:45 p.m. MT (5:45 p.m. ET) on Sunday, November 8. Both contests will be part of the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic at the George W. Jenkins Field House in Lakeland, Florida. The games will be streamed live on the Sunshine State Conference Digital Network with a radio broadcast on KDSJ Radio/KDSJ TV. The Green & Gold will then return home with the top-10 national ranking to face Minot State and UMary as part of the Dakota Challenge on Friday, November 13, and Saturday, November 14, respectively. Friday's match-up with the Beavers will tip-off at 7 p.m. inside of A2 Arena, while Saturday's game will be a 6 p.m. tip-off, with each game following the opener which will see South Dakota Mines also play the pair of North Dakota foes. Those games will all be broadcast live on the RMAC Network with radio broadcasts on KDSJ Radio. Fans are encouraged to purchase all tickets to Black Hills State basketball games online for quick and easy entry into A2 Arena. The first regular season release of the NABC Top-25 Coaches' Poll will be Tuesday, November 17.