BATON ROUGE - As basketball season approaches, the Southwestern Athletic Conference has put out their preseason predictions and honors. Both Southern Jaguar teams were picked to be at or near the top of the conference.

After losing in the SWAC Tournament Championship last season, the Jaguar men's team has been picked to finish second in the conference's predicted order of finish.

The Jags will start their season on the road at SMU on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.

The women's team is coming off of back-to-back conference tournament titles and two straight NCAA Tournament appearances. They were picked to win the conference for the third year in a row.

Junior guard Jocelyn Tate was selected as the SWAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and was selected to the All-SWAC second team. Tate finished her sophomore campaign with 125 defensive rebounds, 19 blocks and 66 steals.

Junior forward DeMya Porter was selected to the preseason All-SWAC first team. Last season, Porter averaged 9.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

The Lady Jags will open their season on the road at Oklahoma State on Nov. 2.

Both Southern basketball teams will host Louisiana Christian for their home openers. The women's team will host the Wildcats on Nov. 13 at 11 a.m., while the men's team hosts LCU on Nov. 17 at 11 a.m.