A telling sign that basketball season is creeping nearer and nearer is the announcement of the preseason rankings for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Chicago Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) men’s and women’s basketball teams. The SXU women’s basketball team made both the NAIA top 25 preseason poll and the CCAC preseason poll with impressive rankings, and the SXU men’s basketball team makes the top half of the CCAC poll.
The NAIA and CCAC both came out with their preseason polls on Wednesday, October 14th, 2020. In the 2020 NAIA Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Rating, the Saint Xavier University women’s basketball team takes the 23rd spot. In the CCAC 2020-2021 Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll, the SXU women’s team comes in hot with ranking second out of fifteen teams.
While the Cougars claim high rankings in these polls, the team has some competition to keep an eye on. The University of Saint Francis ranked above the Cougars in both preseason polls. The Fighting Saints took the first place ranking in the CCAC preseason poll and the 16th place ranking in the NAIA preseason poll.
The SXU women’s basketball team played Saint Francis twice last season, beating the Fighting Saints once in the regular season, 57-55, but losing to them in the CCAC Tournament Championship, 63-66. These close games from last season will make for a competitive showdown when it comes time for the Cougars to play the Fighting Saints in mid-February of 2021. Don’t let Saint Francis’ higher rankings fool you, though. The SXU women’s team is destined to come out to do the same as last year and beat Saint Francis in the regular season. If it comes down to the Cougars playing the Fighting Saints in the CCAC Tournament again, you better believe that the Cougars will want a rematch from last season.
While the SXU men’s basketball team did not make the 2020-21 NAIA Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Preseason Poll, they did claim a spot in the top half of the CCAC rankings. The Cougars grabbed the seventh spot out of fifteen teams in the CCAC. Ranking above SXU, from first to sixth place, are Olivet Nazarene University, Holy Cross College, Indiana University South Bend, Lincoln College, Saint Ambrose University, and Indiana University Northwest.
Last season, the SXU men’s basketball team had competitive encounters with some of these CCAC teams ranked above them. The Cougars split two games with Saint Ambrose and beat Indiana University Northwest the two times they played them. Lincoln College is new to the league, so SXU has a clean slate playing them, a possible advantage. Ultimately, the men’s team has excellent potential for beating these teams again and other ranked teams in the CCAC in the upcoming 2020-2021 season.
While the preseason polls give a ball-park range about where both SXU basketball teams stand in their leagues and in the nation, nothing is set in stone. Without a doubt, the SXU men’s and women’s basketball teams will strive for success and for some hard-fought wins in their upcoming seasons. With rankings come upsets, and the Cougars are hungry to take part in those.