let's be real, this is the kind of preseason note that tells you the Lopes are not sneaking up on anybody. Grand Canyon is among the 44 teams in the nation receiving votes for the preseason AP Top 25, and that matters because it puts the program in the conversation before the first real tip even lands. What does it say when a team is already getting national attention, even without cracking the full poll, and how much louder does that get when the season is still just getting started?
The Lopes picked up two voting points, the same total as Mountain West member Nevada. New Mexico, which was picked first in the Mountain West preseason poll by one point over GCU, did not receive a preseason AP Top 25 vote. That is the kind of early-season contrast that keeps the pressure on and the spotlight warm, because the league race and the national picture are already brushing up against each other before November even settles in.
This is not new territory for Grand Canyon. It is the second time the Lopes have earned preseason AP Top 25 votes, after also doing it for the 2024-25 season. This group also comes in with some outside respect from other corners of the sport, with NCAA's Andy Katz naming GCU one of his 10 non-ranked teams that could be a Final Four darkhorse. In head coach Bryce Drew's seventh season at GCU, that kind of attention is not accidental. It is the product of a program that has built enough credibility to get noticed, even when the ranking itself stops short of putting a number next to the name.
The numbers around the team back that up. GCU landed at No. 44 in the preseason KenPom.com rankings and No. 42 in the preseason BartTorvik.com rankings. The Lopes are also bringing back center Efe Demirel and guards Jaden Henley, Caleb Shaw and Makaih Williams from a 20-win team, while adding a touted transfer class led by Mountain West Preseason Newcomer of the Year Dylan Darling at point guard. That is a real base to work from, and it is why the preseason buzz feels earned instead of forced.
The schedule is already lined up to test all of it. GCU makes its public debut Oct. 27 with a 7 p.m. exhibition game against Western New Mexico at Global Credit Union Arena. The regular season starts Nov. 2 against Texas Southern, and the Lopes open with four straight home games. Florida, a Dec. 18 opponent in Jacksonville, is the No. 1 team in the preseason Top 25, and three other GCU opponents also received votes: Nevada, Saint Louis and Santa Clara. That is the path in front of them now. The votes are in. The proving starts next.
