Eagle men, women ranked No. 4, No. 6 in Region 8 preseason polls

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (October 26, 2015) – The Florida College System Activities Association (FCSAA) released its NJCAA Region 8 men’s and women’s basketball preseason coaches’ polls on Monday, the precursor to Friday’s season openers for Tallahassee Community College.

The Eagles landed in both polls, earning a No. 4 ranking in the men’s poll while the women will open the season at No. 6.

For the Eagle men, the top five ranking in the NJCAA Region 8 Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Poll was accompanied by the prediction of a second-place finish in the Panhandle Conference. The latter was announced during the PC Men’s Basketball Coaches’ annual preseason teleconference, held on Monday.

Defending national champion Northwest Florida State College earned the region’s No. 1 ranking and was tabbed the preseason favorite to win the PC.

Four of the five PC schools landed in the preseason poll – in addition to Northwest Florida State and Tallahassee, Chipola College is ranked sixth and Pensacola State, eighth. Gulf Coast State College received the most votes of teams not ranked in the top ten.

Like the men’s poll, Tallahassee finds itself among plenty of PC company in the women’s rankings.

Defending national champion Chipola opens as the preseason No. 1, followed by No. 2 Gulf Coast State. Northwest Florida State is ranked fifth.

The 2015-16 season tips off on Friday.

For the Eagle men, they’ll head to Niceville, Fla., for the Quality Inn Classic, hosted by Northwest Florida State. Tallahassee opens the season at 6:30 p.m. eastern against Southwest Tennessee Community College.

Meanwhile, the Eagle women will travel north to Atlanta, Ga., for the Atlanta Metro State College Classic. Tallahassee will play Baltimore (Md.) City Community College at 5:30 p.m. Friday.