LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The PacWest coached picked Biola to finish eighth in the preseason poll that was released by the conference office on Thursday, projecting the Eagles to finish ahead of three teams during their first year in the conference.

California Baptist was chosen as the preseason favorite with seven first place-votes, followed by Azusa Pacific with four. Dixie State, APU and CBU all advanced to the NCAA West Regional a year ago and recorded at least 25 conference wins a year ago.

Biola went 19-11 in conference play last season and will look to a new crop of upperclassmen and its incoming recruiting class to provide the spark it needs to make noise in the PacWest standings.

The Eagles will play their first 12 conference games on the road but have 20 of their next 24 PacWest contests at home from Mar. 22 to Apr. 28. Biola will face each of the top four seeds in the preseason poll at Eagles Diamond during that stretch and will cap off its home schedule with a four-game battle with Azusa Pacific for the Cornerstone Cup from April 26-28. Biola went 22-9 at home last year.

The Eagles open their season on Feb. 7 with a non-conference tuneup against APU at 2:00 p.m.

To view the PacWest release and the list of the Preseason All-Conference team, click here.