Across 90 seasons of play, the Little Rock Trojans men’s basketball team has never appeared in the Associated Press weekly Top 25 rankings. A strong 2024-2025 season could change that, however, after the squad from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock received a vote in the AP preseason poll for the first time in program history.

The preseason rankings were compiled by polling 60 sportswriters and broadcasters from around the country, each of whom ranks his or her top 25 teams. A first-place vote is worth 25 points, second place is worth 24, and so on. The team with the most total points is ranked number 1.

Little Rock garnered three points in the Oct. 14 rankings thanks to being ranked 23rd by Mike Hlas of the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette. They were one of four teams in the poll to receive votes for the first time in program history, along with McNeese State (11 points), Grand Canyon (3) and High Point (1).

Why did Hlas rank Little Rock when no one else did? “I used the last few spots of the preseason poll for teams in conferences that get overlooked,” he told the Arkansas Times. “I saw Little Rock has two all-conference players and won 21 games last season, and saw how much better it was last season when [senior center Makhel] Mitchell got into the lineup.”

While three points was not enough to crack the top 25 — for context, Rutgers, the 25th ranked team in the preseason poll, had 102 points — it shows Little Rock is at least a blip on the national radar. And for good reason. 

Little Rock was the regular season champion in the Ohio Valley Conference last season, posting a 14-4 record in conference play. They went 21-13 overall, but it was their regular season finish that stood out. After going 8-10 in their first 18 games, the Trojans lost only once in their final 13 regular-season contests. Unfortunately, a second-round exit in the conference tournament kept Little Rock out of the NCAA tournament. (They earned an invite to the College Basketball Invitational tournament as a 10 seed, but lost their first game to Fairfield University.) 

But it’s not just last year’s regular-season success that has some folks high on Little Rock. The team also returns guard KK Robinson, a favorite to win Ohio Valley Conference player of the year honors this season. A Little Rock native, Robinson began his college career at the University of Arkansas before transferring to Texas A&M after two seasons in Fayetteville. Robinson joined the Trojans last season after one year in College Station. 

Robinson led Little Rock last year with 15.8 points per game. He added 5.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game and posted shooting splits of .476/.323/.836.

Little Rock is already a favorite to win the conference title again this year, at least according to some prognosticators. It’s conceivable they could do that and still not manage to be ranked in a weekly AP poll in the process — Little Rock’s early season schedule is absolutely brutal, with six straight road games against Winthrop, Arkansas State, Texas – San Antonio, Tulsa, Arkansas and Illinois.

If they survive that November gauntlet, however, and enter December with a .500 record or better, a dominant showing in the conference schedule might just be enough to get more pollsters on board and get the Trojans into the AP Top 25 for the first time in school history.