LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The Golden State Athletic Conference released its annual men and women's basketball preseason coaches' polls late Friday afternoon. For the second-straight season both of Biola's teams were picked to finish in the middle of the pack.
 
Both of Biola's teams have a new look and feel to them this season, with the Eagles' only all-conference players from a year ago both graduating, an influx of new talent was needed.

The new talent was not fully recognized by the other coaches in the conference, as Biola's men's team was picked to finish fifth out of nine teams and the women's side was picked to finish sixth of nine.
 
On both sides there is a noticeable gap in the consideration of talent from the top four teams in the poll to the rest of the conference. The gap of votes between the fourth and fifth-placed teams in the men's poll was 17 points and it was 14 points on the women's side.
 
The Vanguard Lions have the respect of everyone in the conference, getting picked to finish first in the conference on both the men and women's sides. It makes sense as the Lions have claimed a women and men's NAIA National Championship within the last two seasons. Vanguard was also the regular season GSAC champion on both sides in 2013-14.
 
Hope International, Concordia and The Master's college also received first place votes in the men's poll, while Westmont was the only other team to claim a first place vote in the women's poll.
 
Biola's men's team finished in a four-way tie for fourth place in the conference last season with a less-than-impressive 6-8 GSAC record. They won all the tie-break scenarios to earn the fourth seed for the GSAC postseason tournament.
 
They received 40 points in the preseason poll to tie with The Master's College for fifth place. The Master's College got a points boost with its one first place vote. The Mustangs were one of the three other teams Biola tied with last year.
 
The Eagles' women's side finished with a sole claim on fifth place in the conference last year before getting taken down by the eventual GSAC postseason tournament champion Hope International in the first round. Its 7-7 conference mark was a sign of improvement after a very rough preseason. The Eagles finished 7-1 in the eight conference games it had a full active roster.
 
Biola earned 42 points in the poll to finish just two points behind Concordia for the fifth place slot. Concordia finished sixth in conference play in 2013-14 with a 5-9 record. Biola split the season series with the Eagles of Irvine, and it was incredibly close, with just a two-point difference in total points for the series.
 
The conference schedule is a little off this season with the addition of William Jessup as a ninth team. The Warriors were picked to finish ninth on the men's side and eighth on the women's, perhaps because the GSAC coaches have not had much exposure to their clubs.
 
 
Both Biola teams begin conference play when they host San Diego Christian on Dec. 2.
 

Men's Preseason GSAC Rankings	Women's Preseason GSAC Rankings
Vanguard (5) - 77 points	Vanguard (8) - 80 points
Hope International (2) - 65 points	The Master's - 63 points
Arizona Christian - 59 points	Westmont (1) - 63 points
Concordia (1) - 57 points	Hope International - 58 points
Biola - 40 points	Concordia - 44 points
The Master's (1) - 40 points	Biola - 42 points
Westmont - 39 points	San Diego Christian - 26 points
San Diego Christian - 16 points	William Jessup - 15 points
William Jessup - 12 points	Arizona Christian - 14 points