Big West Coaches Pick UNLV to Win Conference Basketball Title

Six of the top eight players on the Nevada Las Vegas team have never played Division I basketball, but that hasn’t deterred preseason prognosticators from picking the Rebels as high as fourth in the country.

Thursday, the Big West Conference coaches chose the Rebels as favorites to win the conference title. The Rebels received nine first-place votes and one second.

The conference’s women’s coaches were unanimous in picking Cal State Long Beach to win the Big West title.

MEN’S POLL

(First-place votes in parentheses)

1. Nevada Las Vegas (9) 99

2. Utah State (1) 83

3. UC Santa Barbara 82

4. New Mexico State 69

5. UC Irvine 56

6. Fresno State 46

7. San Jose State 43

8. Cal State Long Beach 35

9. Cal State Fullerton 32

10. University of the Pacific 15

WOMEN’S POLL

(First-place votes in parentheses)

1. Cal State Long Beach (10) 100

2. Nevada Las Vegas 88

3. San Diego State 77

4. Hawaii 68

5. Cal State Fullerton 62

6. Fresno State 54

7. UC Santa Barbara 33

8. UC Irvine 32

9. University of the Pacific 19

10. San Jose State 17