DENVER - Three-time defending Mountain West Conference champion Brigham Young was picked as the favorite once again in the men's basketball preseason media poll and all-conference team on Tuesday. The Wyoming Cowboys were picked sixth.
The Cougars, one of three teams to share the regular-season crown in 2008-09, captured 23 of 24 first-place votes and 215 points for the top spot in the poll. San Diego State, the 2009 MWC Tournament runner-up, collected the remaining first-place vote and 166 points to finish in second, followed closely by UNLV in third with 161 points. Utah and New Mexico, who split the 2008-09 MWC regular-season title with BYU, landed in the fourth- and fifth-place spots, respectively, with the Utes tallying 143 points to the Lobos' 141 points. Wyoming received 89 points to finish sixth, followed by TCU (82 points) in seventh, Colorado State (58 points) in eighth and Air Force (25 points) in ninth to round out the poll.
BYU is coming off a third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and a 25-8 overall record in 2008-09. The Cougars received an at-large berth after capturing their third straight Mountain West regular-season title with a 12-4 mark.
San Diego State turned in a fourth-place effort (11-5) in regular-season Conference play. Following their runner-up finish in the MWC Tournament, the Aztecs advanced to the semifinals of the 2009 National Invitation Tournament, closing out the season with a 26-10 overall mark. UNLV (21-11) and New Mexico (22-12) joined the Aztecs in the NIT, while Utah (24-10) captured the 2009 MWC Tournament crown and earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, making its first trip to the Big Dance since a Sweet 16 appearance in 2005.
Over its 10-year history, the Mountain West Conference has received 22 bids to the NCAA Tournament, including 13 at-large berths. The MWC has had at least one at-large qualifier in nine of those 10 years, including eight straight. Since 2003, all nine MWC teams have participated in postseason play at least once.
Three juniors and two seniors representing four institutions were chosen for the 2009-10 preseason all-MWC team. BYU's Jimmer Fredette received Preseason MWC Player of the Year honors, while UNLV's Derrick Jasper garnered Preseason Newcomer of the Year accolades and San Diego State's Kawhi Leonard collected Preseason Freshman of the Year kudos.
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