PORTLAND, Ore. – The Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced its 2025-26 men's basketball preseason coaches poll on Thursday, with the Nanooks picked to finish eighth in the conference this season.

Central Washington was predicted to repeat as GNAC champions, earning 90 points and six first-place votes in the poll, with 2024-25 GNAC runner-up Northwest Nazarene tabbed for another second-place finish this season with 85 points and two first-place votes. Montana State Billings followed in third with 75 points and a first-place vote. The Yellowjackets tied for third in last year's standings with Western Washington and Seattle Pacific, the former of which got the final first-place vote and tied for fourth in the coaches poll with Saint Martin's, receiving 67 votes. The Saints were picked to make the jump from seventh-place in last year's standings, while the team that followed them in the poll, Alaska Anchorage, was predicted to go from tying for eighth in 2024-25 to sixth this season. The Seawolves' 50 points were seven more than Seattle Pacific in seventh, who won last season's GNAC Championships after tying for third in the standings. The 'Nooks, who finished with the sixth-best GNAC record last time around, took the eighth spot in the preseason rankings with 39 points, and were followed by Simon Fraser in ninth with 20 points and Western Oregon in 10th with 14 points.

The Blue & Gold kick their season off with their Alumni Game on Saturday, Oct. 25, with tip-off set for 3 p.m. They then host the Seattle Mountaineers for two scrimmages the following weekend, with both contests slated for a 7 p.m. start time, before officially beginning the regular season at home vs. Pacific Union on Nov. 5-6.

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