Rebels pegged to finish eighth in conference in preseason basketball poll

By Taylor Bern

Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016 | 8:20 a.m.

UNLV basketball was picked to finish eighth in the Mountain West, while UNR is up at No. 2, it was announced today. This is the lowest that UNLV has even been pegged in the Mountain West's preseason poll, which is conducted by media who cover the league.

For the fourth straight year, San Diego State is the favorite to win the league, garnering 23 of 27 first-place votes. The other four votes went to New Mexico (3), which finished only a few points behind UNR for third place, and Fresno State (1) in fourth.

New Mexico junior guard Elijah Brown is the preseason Player of the Year, and he’s joined on the preseason all-conference team by teammate Tim Williams, UNR’s Cameron Oliver, Utah State’s Jalen Moore and SDSU’s Trey Kell. SDSU sophomore guard Montaque Gill-Caesar, a transfer from Missouri, is the league’s preseason Newcomer of the Year, while Aztec forward Jalen McDaniels and Utah State guard Coby McEwan share preseason Freshman of the Year honors.

Here’s the full predicted order of finish:

1. San Diego State (23) 293 points

2. UNR 253

3. New Mexico (3) 249

4. Fresno State (1) 200

5. Boise State 164

6. Utah State 153

7. Colorado State 146

8. UNLV 120

9. Air Force 90

10. Wyoming 73

11. San Jose State 41

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.