MADISON, Wis.- The 15-time WIAC regular season champion UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team was selected to finish fifth in the league's standings by WIAC head coaches and sports information directors on Friday (Oct. 31).
 
The Titans (13-13, 4-10 WIAC last season), qualified for the WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver's) with a 75-51 regular season finale win over UW-Stout at home. Joey LaChapell (Appleton/Appleton East) and Carter Thomas (Neenah/Neenah) were both named to the WIAC Honorable Mention Team while LaChapell earned the conference's Kwik Trip Newcomer of the Year award.
 
UW-La Crosse (25-6, 12-2 WIAC) were predicted to win the WIAC's regular season title, followed by UW-Platteville (26-3, 13-1 WIAC), UW-Stevens Point (18-9, 7-7 WIAC), and UW-Eau Claire (17-10, 8-6 WIAC). After the Titans, UW-Whitewater (11-15, 5-9 WIAC) was picked sixth, UW-River Falls (9-16, 3-11 WIAC) seventh, and UW-Stout (8-17, 4-10 WIAC) eighth.
 
Head coach Matt Lewis enters his eighth season at the helm with a 124-53 record, the fourth-most winningest coach in program history. The three-time conference coach of the year welcomes back all five starters and a total of 15 letterwinners from the 2024-25 season.
 
Along with LaChapell and Thomas, Michael Metcalf-Grassman (Shawano/Shawano Community), the 2024 Kwik Trip Newcomer of the Year and All-WIAC First Team selection will return to the court after missing much of last year due to an injury. Top returning non-All-WIAC players include forwards Brandon Beck (Rockton, Ill./Hillcrest Prep (Ariz.)) and Jonah Rindfleisch (Milwaukee/Wisconsin Lutheran) and guards Matt Imig (Ashwaubenon/Ashwaubenon) and Reed Seckar (Oshkosh/Oshkosh North).
 
The Blugolds return two starters, the Eagles three, the Pioneers and Falcons two, the Pointers and Blue Devils three, and the Warhawks four.
 
The Titans will begin their season at home on Saturday, November 8, hosting Saint John's University (Minn.) at 5 p.m. before heading on the road for two games in the Illinois Wesleyan University Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational on November 14-15.
 
Oshkosh will then play Carroll University, Edgewood University, and Augustana College (Ill.) in road nonconference games before returning to Kolf Sports Center for a nonconference contest against Benedictine University (Ill.) on December 3.
 
Remaining non-WIAC games include at Calvin University (Mich.), against Ripon College and St. Norbert College on campus, and against Lawrence University at the Oshkosh Arena during the UW-Oshkosh BSN Winter Classic.
 
UW-Oshkosh's home WIAC games will be played on January 7 (UW-La Crosse), January 14 (UW-Platteville), January 17 (UW-River Falls), January 24 (UW-Stout), January 28 (UW-Whitewater), February 11 (UW-Eau Claire), and February 21 (UW-Stevens Point).
 
The 2026 WIAC Tournament (presented by Culver's) will be played on February 24 (quarterfinal round), February 26 (semifinal round), and February 28 (championship). The tournament's champion will be awarded the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.