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Eastern Washington University Basketball

Idaho men’s, women’s basketball earn attention in Big Sky preseason polls

Idaho junior guard Kristian Gonzalez is a top returner for the Vandals. (Courtesy of Idaho Athletics)
By Dan Thompson The Spokesman-Review

The Idaho men’s and women’s basketball teams received first-place votes and landed among the top four in the Big Sky preseason polls, released by the league on Wednesday.

The Eastern Washington women’s team is sixth in the coaches and media poll; the EWU men are fifth in the coaches and eighth in the media.

The Montana men and the Montana State women are the favorites in both of their respective polls, a nod to both teams’ appearances in the NCAA Tournament last year as Big Sky Tournament champions. They also both won the league’s regular-season title.

On the men’s side, Portland State, Northern Colorado and Idaho are predicted to finish second, third and fourth, respectively, by coaches and media. Then there is some disagreement.

In the coaches poll, Eastern Washington and Montana State are tied for fifth, followed by Sacramento State, Idaho State, Weber State and Northern Arizona.

In the media poll, the Idaho State men are fifth, followed by Montana State, Sacramento State, Eastern Washington, Weber State and Northern Arizona. The seventh-ranked Hornets received a first-place vote.

There is similar agreement in the women’s polls, where the top three – Montana State, Montana and Idaho – are the same. The coaches poll then has Idaho State fourth and Sacramento State fifth. Those two are flipped in the media poll.

Eastern Washington follows in sixth in both women’s polls, and the coaches poll then has Northern Colorado seventh, followed by Weber State, Northern Arizona and Portland State.

The women’s media poll lists Weber State seventh, and then NAU, UNC and PSU.

The EWU women will be the next team to play at Reese Court. They host Whitworth for an exhibition on Oct. 29 and then open their regular season at home against Northwest University on Nov. 3.

The EWU men will play their first four regular-season games on the road before playing their first home game on Nov. 17 against Eastern Oregon. That contest is the second game of an Eagles doubleheader and will follow the EWU women’s game against Cal Poly.

The Idaho women play at Washington State at 11 a.m. on Nov. 3 to open their season. Their first home game is Nov. 9 against Walla Walla.

The Idaho men also open their season at Washington State on Nov. 3, but at 6:30 p.m. Their home opener is scheduled for Nov. 7 against Whitman of the Division III Northwest Conference.