BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford men's basketball team made history yet again Monday when the Bulldogs became the first Samford men's basketball squad to receive votes in the Associated Press top 25 poll. Additionally, head coach Bucky McMillan was named the National Coach of the Week by Jeff Borzello on ESPN.com.
 
"Obviously, the goal of our program is to get better every single year," McMillan said. "If you do that, you can turn around and you can be really good. This is good, but we want to make this common and eventually receive more votes and eventually be in the top 25 and one day have a chance to get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament."
 
Samford enters this week with a mark of 17-2 overall and 6-0 in Southern Conference play. Last week, the Bulldogs earned a pair of key Southern Conference wins, taking down Western Carolina on the road, 75-71, and earning an 87-80 home court win over Mercer. Samford has won a school-record 17-straight games, the longest active streak in the nation.
 
McMillan said the individual accolade he received is mostly about the kind of season the team is having.
 
"Whenever you get awards like that, it's obviously dictated by the success of the group," McMillan said. "I'm personally not big on individual awards in basketball, because it is such a team game. There are going to be a lot of guys on our team who may not be the Player of the Week or may or may not make All-Conference who will have a bigger value than some that do. But, whenever we're getting media attention for our program, it helps on a lot of fronts."
 
Samford is currently ranked 80^th in the NET rankings, the highest ranked SoCon team. The Bulldogs rank second in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 90.4 points per game. Samford also ranks in the top 10 in the nation in winning percentage (T-2^nd-89.5), fastbreak points per game (3^rd-18.47), steals per game (3^rd-11.4), three-point percentage (5^th-40.7), assists per game (5^th-19.3), turnovers forced per game (6^th-18.00), bench points per game (6^th-36.79) and three-pointers per game (9^th-10.5).
 
This week, Samford has a pair of SoCon road games coming up. The Bulldogs will play at Furman on Wednesday, Jan. 24, at 6 p.m. (CT), and then at ETSU on Saturday, Jan. 27, at 3 p.m. (CT). Both games can be seen live on ESPN+ and live stats will also be available. For links to watch and follow all of Samford's games this season, click on the following link: 2023-24 MBB SCHEDULE.
 
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For the latest news and information on Samford men's basketball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordSports (Facebook), @SamfordMBB (Twitter), and @SamfordMBB (Instagram).