Preseason Nationally-Ranked FSU Basketball Squads Tabbed Second In GLIAC And Open Season This Weekend

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's and women's basketball squads, which both reached the NCAA Division II Elite Eight last season, will open the upcoming 2024-25 season this weekend and both teams are again drawing attention.

Both FSU squads have been picked this week to finish second in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Preseason Coaches Polls and both are ranked in the nation's top 25.

The Bulldog men's squad was tabbed 25th this week in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) D2 Top 25 while the women were listed 15th in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) D2 National Rankings.

Additionally, both were picked second in the GLIAC by the league's member head coaches. The women garnered 83 points and one first-place vote in being picked behind league preseason favorite Grand Valley State among the 11 conference schools.

On the men's side, Ferris State earned 88 points and a first-place vote. Lake Superior State was chosen first with 98 points and nine first-place mentions.

Two Bulldog standouts also garnered individual attention as senior guard Ethan Erickson (Grand Rapids/Forest Hills Northern) earned men's Preseason All-GLIAC First Team recognition while senior guard Kadyn Blanchard (Freeland) was named to the women's Preseason All-GLIAC First Team.

Last season, the Bulldog men's squad captured both the GLIAC Tournament Championship and the NCAA D2 Midwest Regional title, closing the year with a 28-8 overall record while making the program's third-ever NCAA D2 Elite Eight appearance. A total of 12 squad members from a year ago return for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs have won 20 games or more nine times in the past 10 years to date.

A year ago, the Bulldog women's team reached the NCAA Division II National Semifinals for the first time in program history and finished as the country's number three team overall. FSU won its first NCAA D2 Midwest Regional Championship during a magical postseason run en route to the school's first D2 Elite Eight appearance. FSU closed the year with a school-record 26-6 mark. Nine letter winners return this season for the Bulldogs.

Ferris State will get an early jump on the competition as both Bulldog teams take part in the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Tip-Off Tournaments.

The men will open the season on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1-2, in Canyon, Texas. FSU will face host and preseason third-ranked West Texas A&M in the regular-season opener on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. (ET) before meeting North Carolina-Pembroke on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (ET).

Ferris State will tipoff the 2024-25 women's season on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 2-3, in St. Joseph, Mo. The event will take place where last year ended at the St. Joseph Civic Center, which hosted the D2 Elite Eight last season. The Bulldog women will square off against 13th-ranked Pittsburg State (Kan.) in the opener on Saturday and then face Central Missouri on Sunday. Both games begin at 2:30 p.m. (ET).