While not much is expected of the University of Maine men’s and women’s basketball teams this preseason, the came cannot be said of the University of Southern Maine’s women’s squad.

The UMaine women were selected seventh out of nine teams in the annual America East basketball preseason coaches’ poll while the men were picked to finish eighth, tied with the University of New Hampshire with 15 points apiece.

Meanwhile, the USM Huskies are ranked 17th in the national D3hoops.com Top 25 preseason poll after advancing to the NCAA Division III “Sweet 16” portion of the national tournament last season.

Cindy Blodgett’s Black Bears are the seventh-place prediction for the second straight year with 25 points as the former UMaine star player begins her first season as head coach. Regular season conference champion Hartford was picked No. 1 with eight first-place votes and 64 total points. Vermont (one and 56, respectively), Binghamton (45), Boston University (43), Stony Brook (32), University of Maryland Baltimore County (28), Maine, Albany (16) and New Hampshire (15) follow.

In men’s basketball, head coach Ted Woodward’s Maine men return one full-time starter and two other players with starting experience. The Bears also have just one senior player.

The preseason favorite is Boston University with five first-place votes and 61 points. The Terriers are followed by defending champion Albany with four and 55, respectively. Defending regular season champ Vermont is third with 50 points, followed in order by Binghamton (45), UMBC (33), Hartford (31), Stony Brook (19), Maine, and New Hampshire.

As far as the Division III women’s poll, USM is now ranked in the top 20 in three separate national polls. The Huskies, who finished with a 27-3 record last season, are ranked in the top 10 in both the Women’s DIII News and ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches polls. They have won at least 20 games for 27 straight seasons.