Off to its best start ever in Southland Conference play, the Sam Houston State men's basketball team is ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25.

The Bearkats break into this week's poll at No. 23 in the poll with is put out each week by CollegeInsider.com. The Bearkats are 16-5 on the season and 8-0 in Southland Conference play.

The Kats will look to stay unbeaten in the league on Wednesday with a trip to Thibodaux, La. to take on Nicholls. SHSU will return home Saturday for a showdown with second place Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Great West, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast.

The voting panel is made up of 31 college basketball coaches including SHSU head coach Bob Marlin.

The CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 is now in its eleventh season of existence.

Sam Houston travels to play Nicholls at Thibodaux, LA, on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., then will play host to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday at 7 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum. Both games will be broadcast live on KSAM 101.7 FM.

Following the regular season, the top eight teams meet at  Merrell Center in Katy for the annual Southland Conference tournament March 10-13 to decide the league's NCAA playoff representative.  For ticket information about the tournament see the Bearkats' Southland Conference Classic post-season tournament link.

Tickets for all men's basketball home games are on sale now on-line at www.gobearkats.com  .  Fans also may purchase tickets at the Sam Houston athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Ticket office telephone is (936) 294-1729.