PORTLAND, Ore. - The GNAC released the results of the 2025-26 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll on Thursday, with Northwest Nazarene picked second out of the 10 teams.

NNU earned 85 points and two first-place votes in the poll, just five points behind preseason favorite Central Washington, who earned six first-place votes as the defending conference regular season champs. Montana State Billings was third with 75 points and Western Washington and Saint Martin's tied for fourth at 67 points.

The Nighthawks were picked third a year ago and improved on that prediction, going 13-5 in GNAC play to grab the two-seed in the conference tournament. NNU earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as well, but fell to eventual DII runner-up Cal State Dominguez Hills in the first round.

The Nighthawks will open the season with a Homecoming weekend exhibition against Carroll College on Nov. 8. The Mayors' Cup games against College of Idaho will be on Nov. 12 (Caldwell) and Nov. 18 (Nampa). GNAC play will begin on Dec. 4 on the road at Western Washington, the same host as the 2026 GNAC Basketball Championships that are set to be held from March 5-7 in Bellingham, Washington.

 

Rank	Team (FPV)	Points
1	Central Washington (6)	90
2	Northwest Nazarene (2)	85
3	Montana State Billings (1)	75
T4	Western Washington (1)	67
T4	Saint Martin's	67
6	Alaska Anchorage	50
7	Seattle Pacific	43
8	Alaska Fairbanks	39
9	Simon Fraser	20
10	Western Oregon	14