After the men's and women's basketball teams made trips to the NCAA Tournament last season, both were ranked in the D3hoops.com preseason Top 25 poll when it was released last Thursday.The men's team is ranked 22nd while the women's team is ranked ninth as both squads enter the season with hopes of advancing to the Final Four.

"I think it's a nice honor that people respect our program, but [preseason rankings] have a lot to do with last year's team, so it is what it is," women's head coach Carol Simon said. "To us, we look at it as everybody is 0-0 and we all start in the same place, but it is nice to be honored this way."

Men's head coach Brian Meehan expressed similar sentiments on the preseason rankings.

"It's nice to be ranked because it means they respect your program and you're a team that should always be watched," he said. "As far as saying its an indication as how we'll do [throughout the season], I'm not even sure what we can do this year."

Last season, the women's team advanced further in the NCAA Tournament than it had in any previous season by reaching the Round of 8 before losing to Amherst College 68-54 on March 14. The men's team was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by Franklin & Marshall University.

University Athletic Association opponent Washington University in St. Louis sits atop both the men's and women's preseason polls after both its men's and women's teams reached the NCAA Division III National Championship last season. The men's team won the title last season over Richard Stockton College while the women's team lost to George Fox University.

On the men's side, WashU and Brandeis are the only two UAA teams in the poll after as many as six UAA teams spent time in the top 25 last season, The Judges will play two other top-25 teams this season: No. 8 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Nov. 24 and No. 25 Amherst College on Feb. 9, 2010. Last season, the men's team finished with the 11th-toughest schedule in the country.

Meehan said he was not surprised that other UAA teams were not ranked, saying that many teams lost its top players to graduation. He also praised WashU for its consistent success in the conference and the NCAA Tournament.

"[WashU] play[s] the game hard and the right way," he said. "They certainly earn it. They're not arrogant and they're a great representative of our league."

Four of the women's UAA teams are ranked in the top 25. Aside from Brandeis and WashU, the University of Chicago is ranked 14th while New York University is ranked 19th. The Judges will play each UAA team twice but have no other games against ranked opponents after finishing last season with the second-toughest schedule in the nation.

"We're going to be challenged, but we look forward to that," Simon said. "To be the best, you have to play the best and have a strong schedule. We're ready for it, but it's not going to be easy."

The women's team will open its season Nov. 15 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute while the men's team will begin its season Nov. 17 against Lasell College.