Basketball Team Picked Second In Big West Preseason Polls

UC Santa Barbara is considered the favorite to win the Big West Conference Basketball title according to both the league's coaches and the league's media, while Utah State is picked second in both polls it was announced at the conference media day on Wednesday.

In addition, Aggie forward Desmond Penigar, a first-team all-Big West selection in 2002, was named to the preseason all-conference team as selected by the media in attendance.

UC Santa Barbara, which won the league tournament a year ago received 77 points in the coaches poll including six first place votes. The Aggies received 73 points and three first place votes. UC Irvine was third in the poll with 69 points and one first place vote. Cal State Northridge (47 points) and Pacific (40) rounded out the top five.

In the media poll UCSB had 14 first-place votes and 246 points, with Utah State receiving nine first place votes and 231 points. UCI had 217 points with three first place votes, while Cal State Northridge was fourth with 157 points and Pacific was fifth with 144 points.

"I think this is much more than a three-team race," said USU head coach Stew Morrill. "It will be a very interesting league race. I would be shocked if the winner of this league doesn't have at least four or five losses."

Last year USU shared the regular season championship with UC Irvine as both teams posted records of 13-5 in conference play. UC Santa Barbara, which tied Pacific and Cal State Northridge for third place with 11-7 records, defeated the Aggies in the league tournament title game.

"These kind of predictions are based on the previous year," Morrill said. "You can't think that you are going to be good because of the past and what you accomplished. For us to be successful we have to have senior leadership."

The Aggies return seven letterwinners from last year's team which finished the year 23-8 and played in the NIT Tournament. Included in that group are seniors Desmond Penigar, Ronnie Ross, Toraino Johnson and Mike Ahmad.

Penigar was a first-team all-conference selection a year ago after averaging 17.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Ross averaged 7.1 points and 3.1 assists, while Johnson averaged 4.3 points and 3.6 rebounds and Ahmad, who is a projected redshirt this season, averaged 3.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per contest.

In addition to Penigar, the league's preseason team included Varnie Dennis of Cal Poly, Branduinn Fullove and Mark Hull of UC Santa Barbara, Adam Parada of UC Irvine and Pape Sow of Cal State Fullerton.

The Aggies will play an exhibition basketball game on Friday, Nov. 15 when they host Next Level in a 7:05 p.m. tipoff. The game was originally scheduled for Nov. 8 but was moved to the 15th.

Season tickets are available through USU's website at www.UtahStateAggies.com or by calling the ticket office toll free at 1-888-U-STATE-1 or (435) 797-0305 or in person at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

Big West Conference Basketball Preseason Polls

Coaches Points (first place votes)
1. UC Santa Barbara 77 (6)
2. UTAH STATE 73 (3)
3. UC Irvine 69 (1)
4. CS Northridge 47
5. Pacific 40
6. Long Beach State 39
6. CS Fullerton 39
8. Cal Poly 36
9. Idaho 21
10. UC Riverside 9

Media Points (first place votes)
1. UC Santa Barbara 246 (14)
2. UTAH STATE 231 (9)
3. UC Irvine 217 (3)
4. CS Northridge 157
5. Pacific 144
6. Cal Poly 134
7. Long Beach State 114
8. CS Fullerton 94
9. Idaho 54
10. UC Riverside 39

Preseason All-Conference Team
(as selected by league media)
Varnie Dennis, Cal Poly
Branduinn Fullove, UCSB
Mark Hull, UC Santa Barbara
Adam Parada, UC Irvine
Desmond Penigar, Utah State
Pape Sow, Cal State Fullerton