MARSHALL, Texas — After winning the 2024-25 American Southwest Conference Tournament Championship and hosting the NCAA Division III Regional Tournament, East Texas Baptist University enters the 2026-26 season with a different look but the same goals. With the new look, ETBU is picked to finish third in the ASC and has three student-athletes on the Players to Watch list.
 
ETBU earned 22 points and two first-place votes for the 2025-26 poll, while Mary Hardin-Baylor was picked to win the ASC with 27 points and four first-place votes. Hardin-Simmons University is second with 23 points and two first-place votes, while Howard Payne University is fourth with eight points.
 
Last year, ETBU went 23-5, winning the ASC regular season and tournament championships, going 8-0 in the ASC regular season, and taking both games in the tournament. ETBU defeated LeTourneau, 79-56, in the semi-final game and held off Hardin-Simmons, 78-67, for the championship. It was the fourth time in five years that ETBU had a 20-win season and the first ASC Tournament Championship for head coach Blake Arbogast.
 
The 2025-26 team will be different as five All-ASC players have graduated or moved on from last year's team. All-ASC second team member Tiffany Bickford, Macy Jones, and Tristan Smith are on the ASC Players to Watch list. Bickford started 26 games, averaging 6.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game with 19 steals and 30 assists. Jones played in 27 games, averaged 5.1 points and 3.0 rebounds, and had 16 blocks. Smith started 24 games and averaged 4.3 rebounds with 12 blocks.
 
ETBU opens the new season on November 7 at Centenary College in Shreveport, La., at 6:00 p.m.