The always hotly debated MAAC preseason poll dropped on Tuesday. Rider finds itself right in the middle after it was picked seventh among the league’s 13 teams. The Broncs received 99 votes and are sandwiched between MAAC newcomer Merrimack in sixth and Niagara in eighth. Rider finished tied for third last season — it was the fourth seed in the MAAC Tournament on a tiebreaker — after ending the regular-season on a seven-game winning streak. Key players returning from last season are guard T.J. Weeks Jr., who represented the team at the league’s media day on Tuesday in Atlantic City, and center Tariq Ingraham. Weeks averaged 10.1 points on 34.6% shooting from 3 and grabbed 6.3 rebounds. Ingraham started all 32 games, averaging 9.3 points and 6.5 rebounds. “Just being the old guy, you got to show the new guys what to do, the minor details that coach wants to see every single day in practice,” said Weeks, a graduate student, who is in his second season with the program. “The new guys give me a new light. New jokes where I feel like I’m the old head. Everything I grew up with is different from how they grew up. We need that balance old and new.” Defending regular-season champion Quinnipiac boasts the most returning talent, including preseason Player of the Year Amarri Monroe, and is the preseason favorite after garnering 11 of 13 first-place votes. Second-place Marist and fourth-place Fairfield received the other two first-place votes. Iona finished third in the voting. Monroe was joined on the Preseason First Team by teammate Savion Lewis, Iona’s Dejour Reaves, Marist’s Josh Pascarelli and Merrimack’s Adam ‘Budd’ Clark. No Rider players were selected to any of the MAAC’s Preseason All-League teams. MAAC Basketball Tournaments moving to 10-team format MAAC Preseason Poll 1. Quinnipiac 166 (11) 2. Marist 144 (1) 3. Iona 139 4. Fairfield 119 (1) 5. Saint Peter's 118 6. Merrimack 112 7. Rider 99 8. Niagara 66 9. Siena 54 10. Manhattan 49 11. Mount St. Mary's 42 12. Canisius 38 13. Sacred Heart 37