No Joke This Time: Rebels Are the Coaches’ Choice

Nevada Las Vegas, the defending NCAA champion and the preseason No. 1 in many national polls, has been picked to win the Big West Conference title by conference coaches.

A year ago, they picked Cal State Long Beach in a half-jesting effort to draw attention to teams other than UNLV.

But this season, with Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Anderson Hunt and Greg Anthony back from a team that defeated Duke by 30 points in the NCAA championship game, the coaches made UNLV a unanimous choice.

UNLV is preparing to open its season Dec. 1 against Alabama Birmingham, but still is awaiting the result of an appeal to the NCAA asking for a reversal of a ruling that bars the Rebels from defending their NCAA tournament title.

“We hope we’re going to be in the tournament,” said Coach Jerry Tarkanian, who has made an offer to sit out the event if the team is allowed to play.

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

Cal State Long Beach, which was 23-9 and barely missed making the NCAA field, was chosen third, and UC Santa Barbara, which was 21-9 and lost in the second round, was fourth.