The Northern Athletics Conference released coaches' polls for the 2009-2010 men's and women's basketball season. AU is well-represented in both polls, as the Spartan women's basketball team is picked first in the south division and the men's basketball team is picked to finish second in the south division.

The Spartan women's basketball team was picked first in the NAC South Division by the league's coaches with 78 points and eight of the possible 13 first-place votes. The Spartans are coming off a runner-up finish in the division last year (2008-2009) with a 17-10 overall record, including 13-5 in conference play. Though the Spartans graduated their top two scorers from last season, they return their most accurate scorer, 6-0 junior center Michelle Perry, who was second in the conference at .562 last season. Perry averaged 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds last season. Wisconsin Lutheran College was chosen second in the South with three first place votes and 73 poll points. LINK TO THE OFFICIAL NAC RELEASE

The 2009-2010 Northern Athletics Conference men's basketball preseason coaches' poll has the Spartan men's team picked to finish second in the NAC South Division. The Spartans of Aurora University, the reigning NAC tournament champions, and the Raiders of Milwaukee School of Engineering were both picked to finish second in the South. The teams each received 58 poll points, just three points behind Benedictine University. AU received four first place votes and MSOE received the remaining three.
LINK TO THE OFFICIAL NAC RELEASE

The Spartans men's and women's basketball teams open the 2009-2010 season on Friday, November 20, 2009, in their respective tournaments to which they will travel. The men will play in the Carthage College Tip-Off Classic and take on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville at 6:00 p.m. in Kenosha, Wis, while the women play in the St. Norbert College Classic and take on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse at 5:00 p.m. in De Pere, Wis.