HELENA — Dakota State (S.D.) is tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the 2025-26 Frontier Conference women’s basketball title. The coaches’ poll was announced Monday by the conference office.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams. The Frontier Conference has expanded to 12 full-time institutions this year.
First place is worth 11 points, second place is worth 10 points, third place is worth nine points, and so on to the last place with one point.
Dakota State, which won its fifth straight North Star Athletic Association conference title last season and advanced to the second round of the NAIA tournament, completed their 2024-25 season with an overall record of 25-5. The Trojans collected 11 first-place votes and 121 points to capture the top spot in the preseason poll.
Carroll and Rocky Mountain earned a tie for second place, with each recording 101 points in the poll. Both teams advanced to the NAIA tournament last season. The Battlin’ Bears won the 2025 Frontier Conference regular-season title and advanced to the league's tournament championship game.
Providence, which won the Frontier tournament last season, collected 91 points to finish fourth in the preseason poll. Montana Tech picked up the final first place votes and tallied 81 points to finish fifth. Both the Argos and the Orediggers advanced to the first round of the 2025 NAIA tournament.
Bellevue (Neb.) finished sixth in the preseason poll with 68 points. Montana State-Northern edged Valley City State (N.D.) by three points (58-55) to finish seventh. Mayville State (N.D.) was ninth with 37 points, followed by Dickinson State (N.D.) 10th with 35 points, Montana Western 11th with 32 points, and Bismarck State (N.D.) 12th with 12 points.
The 2025-26 NAIA season officially tips off on Thursday.
Each Frontier team will play a total of 22 conference games on their 2025-26 schedules, playing home-and-away contests. They are scheduled to play 11 home league games and 11 road conference contests.
The first conference contests of the season are scheduled for mid-November with traveling partners facing each other.
The top eight teams in the Frontier standings will advance to the postseason tournament, hosted by Montana Tech at the Civic Center in Butte. The four-day conference tournament begins with quarterfinal games Feb. 27-28.
