The 2025–26 Northeast Conference men's basketball season, officially the 2025–26 NEC men's basketball season, began with practices in October 2025, and was followed by the start of the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season on November 3. Conference play started on January 2, and the regular season ended on February 28, 2026. This was the 45th season of Northeast Conference (NEC) men's basketball. Central Connecticut was the defending regular-season champion. Saint Francis was the defending conference tournament champion.
This was the first season of NEC membership for New Haven, which began its transition from Division II.
This was the final season of NEC membership for Saint Francis, which began its reclassification transition to Division III.
Offseason Chicago State fired head coach Scott Spinelli after just one season on March 7. Landon Bussie was hired to replace Spinelli on March 20. Bussie had been named Southwestern Athletic Conference coach of the year twice in his five years at the helm at Alcorn State.
On March 25, Saint Francis announced it would reclassify to Division III, and that the 2025–26 season would be its last in Division I. Two days later, Rob Krimmel resigned as head coach after 13 seasons leading Saint Francis, including a 2025 NCAA tournament appearance, and said he planned to retire from coaching. Associate head coach Luke McConnell was immediately promoted to replace Krimmel.
For the fourth straight year, the NEC changed its rules regarding eligibility for the conference tournament. A maximum of two teams transitioning to Division I may participate in the NEC tournament regardless of the number of years they have been in transition with those closest to completing their reclassification receiving priority. Therefore, Mercyhurst is eligible to participate in the 2026 NEC tournament, since Stonehill completed its reclassification to Division I, and Le Moyne and Mercyhurst are in their third and second transition years, respectively. New league member New Haven may participate in the 2027 tournament, provided Le Moyne completes its reclassification as a full, active Division I member in 2026.
Head coaches Team Head coach Previous position Year at school Overall record NEC record NEC regular-season titles NEC tournament titles NCAA tournament recordCentral Connecticut Fairfield(asst.) 5 2 0 —Chicago State Alcorn State 1 0 0 —Fairleigh Dickinson Fairleigh Dickinson(asst.) 3 0 0 —Le Moyne Florida Southern(asst.) 6 0 0 —LIU NBA G League Ignite(program director) 4 0 0 —Mercyhurst Ohio(asst.) 23 0 0 —New Haven Eastern Kentucky(asst.) 15 0 0 —Saint Francis Saint Francis (assoc. head coach) 1 0 0 —Stonehill Stonehill(asst.) 12 0 0 —Wagner Seton Hall(asst.) 4 0 1 1–1 (interim) Wagner(asst.) 1 0 0 — Notes All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. Year at school includes 2025–26 season. Overall and NEC/NCAA records are from time at current school and are before the beginning of the 2025–26 season. Previous jobs are head coaching jobs unless otherwise noted.
Preseason Preseason coaches poll and rankings The table below shows the preseason rankings of NEC teams based on a poll of the conference's coaches as well as each team's preseason Pomeroy rating among the 365 Division I teams. RankTeamPomeroyrating 1 LIU (unanimous)287 2 Central Connecticut315 3 Stonehill331 4 Mercyhurst359 5 Fairleigh Dickinson349 6 Chicago State362 7 Saint Francis345 8 Wagner358 9 Le Moyne339 10 New Haven360
() first-place votes
Preseason All-NEC team Source: Player School Bernie Blunt III (graduate student, guard)Mercyhurst Malachi Davis ( senior, guard)LIU Jamal Fuller (graduate student, guard/forward)LIU Hermann Koffi (sophomore, guard)Stonehill Darin Smith Jr. (sophomore, forward)Central Connecticut
Regular season Early-season multi-team events Eight of the 10 NEC teams participated in multiple-team events (MTEs) during the season. All the MTEs except Coconut Hoops, which is a bracketed tournament, are showcase events.
Source:
Team Event Sponsor RecordCentral Connecticut None — —Chicago State Acrisure Series not reported 0–3Fairleigh Dickinson FDU Basketball Classic Fairleigh Dickinson 0–2Le Moyne Lafayette Classic Lafayette 2–1LIU Illinois Showcase Illinois 1–1Mercyhurst Marshall MTE Marshall 0–2New Haven UConn MTE UConn 1–2Saint Francis Coconut Hoops Florida Gulf Coast 0–2Stonehill Mahoney Classic Fairfield 0–2Wagner None — —
Pre-conference season highlights New Haven made their Division I debut at no. 4 UConn on November 3, the season's opening day. It was the first road game against a Division I opponent in the Chargers' program history. New Haven's only previous meeting with a Division I team was an 83–68 home loss to Wagner on February 17, 1979. Andre Pasha scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Chargers, but the Huskies dominated the glass, 40–25, and shot 48% from the floor and 35% from three-point range, cruising to a 79–55 victory.
Bernie Blunt III scored 27 points to lead Mercyhurst to a 73–65 win at Loyola Chicago on November 6. The Lakers built a seven-point lead by intermission and remained in front during the entire second half. Mykolas Ivanauskas snatched nine boards for the Lakers, who outrebounded the Ramblers, 36–30. Deshaun Jackson Jr. came off the bench to score 11 points and dish five assists for Mercyhurst, and Qadir Martin added 12 points, eight rebounds, three blocks, two steals and an assist.
Jabri Fitzpatrick scored 23 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead New Haven to a 73–67 win at UMass Lowell on November 10, the first victory as a Division I program and the first over a Division I opponent in Chargers history. Andre Pasha added 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals for New Haven, and Vere Anthony finished with three assists and a steal in 12 minutes off the bench.
Tre'shawn Sheppard had a double-double with 12 points, 13 boards, an assist, a block and a steal to lead LIU to a 76–72 win at Air Force on November 11. Malachi Davis and Jamal Fuller each scored 14 points for the Sharks. Greg Gordon finished with nine points, five assists and three steals. LIU's bench outscored their counterparts, 36–18.
Darin Smith, Jr. made a layup for Central Connecticut with 3.2 seconds to play, and Donald Hand Jr.'s jump shot was off the mark at the buzzer, giving the Blue Devils a 60–59 win at Boston College on November 11. This was the first win for an NEC team over a power conference opponent since Fairleigh Dickinson defeated Purdue in the 2023 NCAA tournament. This was also the first win over a power conference opponent in Central Connecticut's program history. Smith finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Melo Sanchez scored 17 points, 12 in the second half, to lead Central Connecticut. Max Frazier snatched seven rebounds and scored nine points, including a dunk that capped a 14–5 run, giving the Blue Devils a one-point lead with 6:45 to play, after they had trailed by 11 points early in the second half. Jay Rodgers added six assists, two blocks and no turnovers for Central Connecticut.
LIU built a 17-point halftime lead and then held off a late charge by James Madison, picked to win the Sun Belt title in a preseason poll of the conference's coaches, to earn an 88–79 home victory on November 15. Malachi Davis and Jamal Fuller each scored 21 points to lead the Sharks, and Davis added eight assists, while Fuller grabbed eight rebounds.
Conference matrix The table below summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference regular-season play. The home team's score is shown in boldface type. Future home games are shown in italics.
Source:
Central ConnecticutChicago StateFairleigh DickinsonLe MoyneLIUMercyhurst New HavenSaint FrancisStonehillWagnervs. Central Connecticut – 59–6977–78 80–59 61–7276–81 90–9864–69 55–6267–84vs. Chicago State – 70–6360–59 72–5781–63 74–5573–56 79–7280–61Dickinson 63–7059–60 – 87–7476–59 66–5974–60 67–7452–55 65–5584–77 vs. Le Moyne69–5978–77 57–7263–81 74–8759–76 – 58–8484–86 65–5477–68 vs. LIU 78–8459–80 55–7456–73 59–6660–74 – 63–6789–91 63–6654–61 57–6765–83vs. Mercyhurst 74–6755–52 – 57–6151–70 79–94 vs. New Haven72–6181–76 55–6577–84 61–5770–51 – 55–7051–64 vs. Saint Francis98–9069–64 84–5886–84 67–6391–89 98–89OT94–79 – vs. Stonehill 54–6568–77 66–6361–54 70–5564–51 – vs. Wagner62–5584–67 72–7961–80 67–5783–65 –Record 12–6 5–13 8–10 10–8 15–3 10–8 9–9 5–13 8–10 8–10
Record against other conferences
Regular season NEC vs. power conferencesRecord ACC 1–6Big East 0–11Big Ten 1–8Big 12 0–4SEC 0–7NEC vs. power conferences total 2–36Other NCAA Division I conferencesRecordAmerica East 4–6American 0–1ASUN 0–0Atlantic 10 3–9Big Sky 0–0Big South 0–2Big West 0–0 CAA 1–1CUSA 1–1Horizon League 1–3Ivy League 0–1MAAC 3–8Mid-American 0–6MEAC 3–0MVC 0–2MWC 1–0OVC 0–1Patriot League 3–4SoCon 0–0Southland 0–1SWAC 0–0Summit 0–0Sun Belt 1–2WAC 0–0WCC 0–0Other Division I total 21–48NCAA Division I total 23–84NCAA Division III 12–0NAIA 1–0USCAA Division I 4–0USCAA Division II 2–0Grand total 42–84Through games of December 29, 2025.
Postseason NEC vs. power conferencesRecord ACC 0–0Big East 0–0Big Ten 0–0Big 12 0–0SEC 0–0NEC vs. power conferences total 0–0Other NCAA Division I conferencesRecordAmerica East 0–0American 0–0ASUN 0–0Atlantic 10 0–0Big Sky 0–0Big South 0–0Big West 0–0 CAA 0–0CUSA 0–0Horizon League 0–0Ivy League 0–0MAAC 0–0Mid-American 0–0MEAC 0–0MVC 0–0MWC 0–0OVC 0–0Patriot League 0–0SoCon 0–0Southland 0–0SWAC 0–0Summit 0–0Sun Belt 0–0WAC 0–0WCC 0–0Other Division I total 0–0NCAA Division I total 0–0
Games against ranked non-conference opponents The table below shows games played by NEC teams against opponents ranked by the Associated Press at the time of the game.
Date Visitor Home Site Score NEC record Nov. 3 New Haven No. 4 UConn Gampel Pavilion ● Storrs, CT UConn, 7955 0−1 Nov. 3 Fairleigh Dickinson No. 16 Iowa State Hilton Coliseum ● Ames, IA Iowa State, 8850 0−2 Nov. 17 Stonehill No. 16 Iowa State Hilton Coliseum ● Ames, IA Iowa State, 9657 0−3 Nov. 22 LIU No. 8 Illinois State Farm Center ● Champaign, IL Illinois, 9858 0−4 Saint Francis No. 23 Florida O'Connell Center ● Gainesville, FL Florida, 10261 0–5 LIU No. 23 Georgia Stegeman Coliseum ● Athens, GA Georgia, 8974 0–6 New Haven No. 11 Vanderbilt Memorial Gymnasium ● Nashville, TN Vanderbilt, 9653 0–7
Rankings KenPom preseason and NET rankings The table below shows the rankings of NEC teams among the 365 Division I teams throughout the season. The preseason ranking is the Pomeroy rating. The remaining weekly rankings are the NET rankings reported by the NCAA beginning with the initial release at the start of week 5. NET rankings are not updated during the NCAA tournament. The rankings shown for week 20 are the final rankings at the conclusion of regular-season and conference-tournament play. + Legend Increase in ranking Decrease in ranking Pre Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15 Week 16 Week 17 Week 18 Week 19 Week 20 FinalCentral Connecticut 315 151 190 185 220 226 237 231 232 272 283 276 270 285 282 288 289 Chicago State 362 333 349 322 316 314 335 345 350 354 350 349 344 339 344 340 340 Fairleigh Dickinson 349 358 353 355 354 355 346 343 346 328 339 325 328 331 333 334 334 Le Moyne 339 289 281 282 299 298 304 283 277 267 276 280 280 288 287 290 290 LIU 287 187 189 191 196 194 169 190 189 202 183 187 195 198 195 200 198 Mercyhurst 359 268 304 320 312 313 314 295 312 291 285 287 283 282 278 275 277 New Haven 360 315 301 313 319 325 318 326 326 329 329 336 329 321 327 326 325 Saint Francis 345 359 363 360 358 359 361 354 354 348 354 352 354 353 354 353 353 Stonehill 331 339 335 342 336 345 340 340 338 341 327 335 339 337 335 332 332 Wagner 358 198 244 255 245 242 258 312 319 318 321 324 315 314 309 304 302
Mid-major polls