FRISCO, Texas – Last season's Southland regular season runner-up Lamar will enter the 2026-27 campaign as the preseason favorite for women's basketball, the league announced Tuesday. The Cardinals received six first-place votes and 116 total points, to land atop the poll.

Lamar went 17-5 in Southland play last season but fell to defending tournament champion Stephen F. Austin in a conference semifinal game. The Ladyjacks were tabbed second in the preseason poll with 113 points and five first-place votes, while UTRGV was voted third overall with 98 points and one first-place vote. 

UIW tallied 79 votes for fourth while McNeese, last year's regular season title winner, had 71 points and a first-place vote of its own in fifth. East Texas A&M had 68 points, Northwestern State totaled 54 with HCU earning 52 and 48 for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Southeastern, Nicholls, and LSU New Orleans accounted for the final placements with 40, 34 and 19 points respectively. 

First tip for the Southland women's season takes place Monday, Nov. 2 with the conference slate starting on Wednesday, Dec. 2. 
 
The Southland Conference preseason poll is voted on by either an institution's head coach or sports information director, resulting in one vote per school. Each voter ranks their predicted order of regular season finish, not including their own team. The 2027 Air Force Reserve Southland Conference Basketball Championships pres. by Louisiana Office of Tourism is set for MArch 8 through March 11 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.