The women were picked to win the CCAA title while the men were selected second in the preseason poll on Wednesday.

With a strong nucleus returning, the women's team received nine first-place votes compared to one each for second-place Cal State San Bernardino and third-place Sonoma State.

On the men's side, the defending Division II national champion Aggies received four first-place votes behind preseason favorite Cal State Bakersfield, which earned eight.

Women's coach Sandy Simpson and men's coach Brian Fogel expect things to get tough early in the conference race.

Both teams play seven of their 10 conference road games before Jan. 16.

"Winning away from home will be important early," Simpson said. "We'll know if we're in the title hunt by Feb. 1."

Said Fogel: "We must be on top of our game every time we take the floor. This is a strong conference, so you have to be ready to play each night."

Senior guard Karyn Castro, junior forward Kristin Coolidge and junior center Des Abeyta are returning starters from last season's women's team, which finished 23-7 and reached the West Regional final.

"We feel we have a nice blend of experience and youth to go along with our size and decent team speed," Simpson said.

Preseason All-America senior point guard Dante Ross, junior forward Jason Cox and shooting guard J.C. Timmons return for the men. The Aggies finished 31-2 and with a 22-game winning streak.

"One of our strengths is that we return three starters who have experienced basketball at a high level of competition," Fogel said.