FOREST, Va. --- Conference men's basketball teams are set to return to league courts for the first time since March as the ODAC prepares to open conference competition for the first time in the 2020-21 academic year. With the ODAC title and trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line, league coaches took their hand at benchmarking the conference in the 2021 ODAC Men's Basketball Coaches Poll.

Randolph-Macon College and Virginia Wesleyan University are separated at the top of the survey with last season's ODAC champion and runner-up collecting 142 and 135 points, respectively. The Yellow Jackets secured 10 first place votes while the Marlins garnered the remaining three.

The logjam for spots 3-to-6 in the poll features just an 11-point difference. Washington and Lee University sits third with 110 points, while Roanoke College and the University of Lynchburg both cracked the century mark with 102 and 101 tallies. Guilford College, last season's preseason chart-topper, slots sixth with 99 points.

LAST TIME OUT

• It was nearly a year ago that nationally fifth-ranked Randolph-Macon represented the ODAC in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Yellow Jackets twice held home court in the early rounds. The posted a pair of double digit victories, defeating Wesley College, 81-69, and The College of New Jersy, 85-71.
• R-MC was set to host a sectional round game against Yeshiva University, but the tournament was halted before that contest could be played.

2020 ODAC TOURNAMENT | BRACKET

• The ODAC chamionship game would eventually feature pair of nationally-ranked programs in #5 R-MC and #16 Virginia Wesleyan, but both teams nearly missed a chance to play for the hardware.
• Randolph-Macon earned an 80-61 victory over Hampden-Sydney College in the quarterfinals, but found themselves in a nail-biter with Roanoke in the semifinals. A Korey Turner layup off a loose ball put R-MC ahead, 60-59, with 22-seconds to go. The Maroons had the last shot with a jumper rolling over the rim, punching the Jackets' tickets to the title game.
• Virginia Wesleyan topped Ferrum College in the quarterfinals, 71-62, and all seemed well against Lynchburg in the semifinals as the Marlins had built up a 63-51 lead with less than 8:00 to play. But a run by the Hornets put them in position for the final shot at the horn. A right-wing three-pointer curled off the back iron to secure a 70-67 win for VWU.
• The early going was back-and-forth in the championship game, but Randolph-Macon went on a 14-0 run over five minutes to jump out to a 25-10 lead with 5:03 to go in the opening frame. The Yellow Jackets headed to the break up 31-22. VWU pulled to within four points twice midway thru the second stanza, but that was as close as they'd get as R-MC improved to 7-8 in ODAC title games with a 72-57 victory. The win would prove to be the second leg of a school sweep of the ODAC titles with R-MC claiming the women's crown a couple hours earlier.

RETURNING ALL-ODAC TALENT | 2020 ALL-ODAC AWARDS

• The list of returning All-ODAC award winners in 2021 is fairly long with 11-of-18 honorees and all four major award winners from the 2019-20 season set to return.
• Randolph-Macon playmaker Buzz Anthony and head coach Josh Merkel return after picking up their second straight Kurt Axe/ODAC Player of the Year and Bob Johnson/ODAC Coach of the Year awards, respectively. Anthony doubled as the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete. Forward Miles Mallory earned ODAC Rookie of the Year honors in 2020.
• Washington and Lee welcomes back All-ODAC First Team guard William Brueggeman as well as All-ODAC Second Team forward and two-time ODAC Defensive Player of the Year, Curtis Mitchell.
• Virginia Wesleyan features first team forward Tim Fisher and All-ODAC Third Team guard Corey Pelham. Hampden-Sydney welcomes back second team foward Jack Wyatt and third team forward Jake Hahn. Lynchburg looks to first team forward T.C. Thacker and third team guard Tharon Suggs to lead the way.
• Bridgewater enjoys the return of second team guard Chandler Murray, while Guilford features third team guard Jorden Davis. 

THE SCHEDULE AND TOURNAMENT

• ODAC men's basketball is set to play as many as 12 conference games for each team for a full round-robin slate. Each team retains the autonomy to schedule non-conference games as the opportunities present themselves. The ODAC schedule is slated to begin Saturday, January 23, 2021.
• The ODAC Men's Basketball Tournament will feature four teams in 2021. The semifinals of the tournament will be played on the campuses of the #1 and #2 seeds on Thursday, March 4. The championship is slated for Saturday, March 6 at the highest remaining seed. Tip times will be communicated once they are determined. All games and times should be considered subject to change.

Listed below is the 2021 ODAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll. Be sure to check out the preseason capsules for more details on each team.

For more information on ODAC men's basketball, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.  Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.

2021 ODAC MEN'S BASKETBALL COACHES POLL