COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - After its most successful season in program history, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs will begin the 2014-15 season ranked No. 18 in the nation and will face another national qualifying team in Arkansas-Fort Smith to start the season tonight in Denver. The Mountain Lions (0-0) and Lions (0-0) will face each other in the Auraria Events Center at Metropolitan State University of Denver in the season-opener for both teams.

UCCS is nationally ranked for the first time in program history after completing the largest turnaround in the NCAA Division II last season. The Mountain Lions were picked second in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll behind MSU Denver with the conference preseason player of the year, Derrick White.

Arkansas-Fort Smith is the preseason favorite from the Heartland Conference for the fourth consecutive season and is coming off a 73-72 win against Division I Southern Utah in exhibition. Kenny Martin led the Lions with 18 points and seven rebounds, and Alex Cooper made five free throws in the final 2:07 to secure the win.

Fans will be able to follow tonight's game with live stats from MSU Denver, live audio from the UCCS Athletics YouTube Channel, and live pay-per-view video streaming from America One Sports. Brandon Applehans will provide the play-by-play for the live audio.