The Pirates, who finished last season with a 5-11-2 overall record and a 1-8 mark in the conference picked up 27 points to land sixth in the blue division.

The University of Connecticut received 13 of the 15 first-place votes to garner 91 points and land at the top of the poll. Notre Dame and Georgetown received the other two first-place tallies to come in second and third overall.

Marquette, who won the Blue Division in 2011, was picked to finish fourth, Providence came in fifth and Pittsburgh landed in the seventh position.

After winning the BIG EAST Championship a year ago, St. John's edged USF, last year's division winner, as the coaches' pick to win the Red Division, receiving 94 points on sixth first-place votes.

The tight race for preseason favorite in the Red Division saw USF come in just four points behind the Red Storm with the Bulls receiving five first-place ballots, while Louisville received the other four first-place votes to come in just one point behind USF.

Rutgers was picked fourth in the Division with 60 points, followed closely by Villanova in fifth place with 59 points. Cincinnati (31 points), DePaul (29 points) and Syracuse (24 points) rounded out the Red Division standings.

Connecticut junior forward Mamadou Doudou Diouf was tabbed as the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, with Huskies' sophomore goalkeeper Andre Blake picked as the Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year. Preseason Co-Defensive Player of the Year accolades went to Louisville junior Andrew Farrell and Georgetown senior Jimmy Nealis.

First year Seton Hall head men's soccer coach Gerson Echeverry returns 19 letterwinners and eight starters from last year's team, including six of the team's top seven scorers and a pair of goalkeepers that saw a significant amount of time in the nets.

Junior Max Garcia (Jersey City, N.J.) led Seton Hall in scoring last season with five goals and an assist to tally 11 points. The Pirates also welcome back senior Adriano Gabriele (North Babylon, N.Y.) (two goals), sophomore Jason Wellington (West Palm Beach, Fla.) (two goals), sophomore Kai Greene (South Orange, N.J.) (one goal, two assists) and sophomore Damian Bziukiewicz (East Rutherford, N.J.) (four assists) to this year's team.

Seton Hall hosts a pair of exhibition games, against Fairleigh Dickinson University on Saturday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m., and Bloomfield College on Tuesday, Aug. 21, at 7 p.m., before opening up regular season play against Saint Peter's University on Friday, Aug. 24, at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, N.J., at 7 p.m.