Titans, Anteaters Picked to Trail Big West

UC Irvine suffered through the worst basketball season in school history in 1989-90, but the Anteaters were not picked to repeat their last-place finish in the Big West Conference in a poll of conference coaches Wednesday.

That distinction fell to Cal State Fullerton, which has lost its top two scorers, Cedric Ceballos and Mark Hill, from a team that finished seventh last season. UC Irvine was picked to finish ninth.

“I was prepared for that,” Fullerton Coach John Sneed said. “When you look at who’s returning around the league and the fact that Wayne (Williams) is our only returning starter, I can understand that. I’ll tell you this, though. I don’t think we’ll be the No. 10 team.”

Nevada Las Vegas, the defending NCAA champion and preseason No. 1 in many national polls, was picked unanimously to win the Big West.

UNLV is awaiting the result of its appeal to reverse a ruling barring the Rebels from defending their NCAA tournament title. A decision by the Big West on whether to allow UNLV to play in the Big West tournament will be made only if the NCAA announces that the ban will stand, conference officials said.

New Mexico State, which tied UNLV for the regular-season title last season and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament, was chosen second.

Irvine, which set a school record with a 15-game losing streak last season, won three of its final six games to finish 5-23. Four players from that team--seniors Ricky Butler and Jeff Herdman and sophomores Dylan Rigdon and Jeff Von Lutzow--are expected to start against UCLA in Irvine’s season-opener Nov. 23 in the Great Alaska Shootout.

Big West Conference Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Poll

Team (First-Place Votes) Points 1. Nevada Las Vegas (10): 100 2. New Mexico State: 84 1/2 3. Cal State Long Beach: 80 1/2 4. UC Santa Barbara: 73 5. Pacific: 54 1/2 6. Utah State: 45 7. Fresno State: 35 8. San Jose State: 31 1/2 9. UC Irvine: 26 10. Cal State Fullerton: 20