Both the nationally ranked UW-La Crosse men’s and women’s basketball seasons get underway Friday and Saturday — and all four teams they play are also in the Top 25.

The UW-L men, who are ranked No. 7 and predicted to win the WIAC, are playing a tournament in Virginia Beach.

The Eagles open with No. 17 Hampden-Sydney at 6 p.m. Friday and play No. 14 Virginia Wesleyan at 3 p.m. Saturday.

UW-L isn’t home until its sixth game of the season, Nov. 26.

Meanwhile, the UW-L women head into the season ranked 15th in the nation and are predicted to take third in the WIAC — though only UW-Oshkosh, at No. 3, is ranked ahead of them.

The Eagles open the season at a UW-River Falls tournament, where they’ll play No. 23 Hope at 7 p.m. Friday and No. 18 Calvin at 1 p.m. Saturday.

UW-L plays eight games on the road to open the season before it’s home Nov. 22 — though it does play at Saint Mary’s in Winona on Nov. 15.

SEASON OUTOOK
UW-L MEN

The UW-L men are coming off a historic season, where they set a school record with 25 wins and got to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.

UW-L returns three starters in Tomah native and leading scorer Dustin Derousseau, along with JJ Paider and Sam Grieger. Derousseau averaged 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists.  Paider averaged 13.5 points and 7.6 rebounds and shot 53.6% from the field, while Grieger averaged 15.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals.

UW-L WOMEN

The Eagles received an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney last season and got to the second round before losing in dramatic fashion.

UW-L returns three players who started all 29 games games (Grace Knupp, Malia Nelson and Ali Sprangers). They were all three of UW-L’s Top 5 scorers from last season. Knupp finished second on the team in averaging 8.8 points and was second in rebounds (4.6). Nelson averaged 7.7 and led the team with 4.9 rebounds. Meanwhile Sprangers averaged 7.1 points last season.

TOP PHOTO: FILE – UW-L’s Ali Sprangers and Dustin Derousseau both return for the 2025-26 seasons. (PHOTOS: UWL Athletics)