Poll places Rebels No. 3 in Mountain

Steve Carp

Thursday, Oct. 30, 1997 | 9:36 a.m.

Had the status quo prevailed at UNLV from the spring, meaning had Bill Bayno had Lamar Odom at his disposal as well as Keon Clark and Kevin Simmons for the entire season instead of only half, things might not have been so predictable.

But with the Rebels missing a few key performers, the usual suspects surfaced at the top of this year's WAC men's basketball media preseason poll.

In the Mountain Division, that means New Mexico and Utah are expected to battle it out for first place. In the Pacific Division, Fresno State was the overwhelming choice of the writers and broadcasters.

The results were released Wednesday at the conference's media preview at the MGM Grand.

What was surprising was to see Hawaii, which returns its stellar backcourt of Anthony Carter and Alika Smith, tabbed for fourth place in the Pacific. Texas Christian and Tulsa were picked ahead of the Rainbows, and don't be surprised if coach Riley Wallace uses it as a motivational tool for his team at some point.

New Mexico was a slight choice to win the Mountain with 294 points to Utah's 289. UNLV was third at 251 with Colorado State (202), Wyoming (136), Texas-El Paso (128), Brigham Young (84) and Air Force (56) rounding out the division.

Fresno State's 305 points topped all teams. TCU had 246 points and Tulsa 238 to finish behind Jerry Tarkanian's Bulldogs in the Pacific. Hawaii had 226 points with Southern Methodist next at 150 followed by Rice (119), San Diego State (99) and San Jose State (57).

New Mexico was the narrow choice to defeat Utah in the WAC title game March 7 at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Lobos received 12 votes to Utah's 11. UNLV was the fourth choice to win it all with four votes.

The majority of the coaches downplayed the poll. New Mexico coach Dave Bliss was low-keying it the most, even though he has four starters returning, including All-WAC performer Kenny Thomas.

"The (New York) Yankees were picked too," he said.

"I'm in denial right now. Unless we play a lot harder and a lot smarter, I don't think we're as good a team as I think we're being made out to be."

Utah's Rick Majerus also downplayed the Utes' lofty status. Of course, that's easy to do when you no longer have the services of the WAC's career scoring leader, Keith Van Horn.

"We've got a nice team and we're looking forward to playing," Majerus said. "But we've got some concerns. We're going to be without Britton Johnsen until January. He has patella tendinitis, the same thing Josh Grant had a few years ago.

"We've got the (Green Bay) Packers' doctor involved. We've got religious guys. I may go to Oral Roberts next. I don't know what's going to happen."

Many believe Johnsen is the next Van Horn. Majerus said forget about that for now.

"He's not the heir apparent to Van Horn," he said of Johnsen, a 6-foot-9 freshman forward from Murray, Utah. "The only thing they have in common is they both have a lot of bad hair days.

"Right now, he can't run or jump. But he takes great notes."

Nobody should be surprised that Fresno State was picked to win the Pacific. With the abundance of talent available, Tarkanian's team is a legitimate threat to win it all come March.

"I like our team," Tark said. "I've got some good players. I just can't get them all on the floor.

"Most days, we have five or six (scholarship players) on the floor. One day, we had three. It's just hard to practice with only five scholarship players."

Injuries, suspensions and NCAA rules have kept some of FSU's players off the court during fall practice.

"Once we get everyone back, I think we can be a real good team," Tarkanian said.

Tark was surprised to hear Hawaii was picked so low.

"How? Why?" he said. "I think TCU will be very good. But I don't understand Tulsa."

Hoop du jour

* WOMEN'S POLL: Utah was the choice to win the Mountain Division and Hawaii was selected in the Pacific in the WAC women's coaches poll released Wednesday. The Utes garnered 117 points to Colorado State's 108. UNLV was picked seventh in the Mountain with 39 points, ahead of only Air Force, which had 22. Hawaii's 110 points were 10 more than San Diego State in the Pacific. Rice, SMU and TCU followed.

* UNLV TV: Yes, the 1997-98 season hasn't tipped off, but it's never too early to talk about the future. Wednesday, UNLV coach Bill Bayno gave a peek toward next year when he said the Rebels will meet Clemson in a nationally televised game on ESPN. UNLV has six games scheduled on the tube this year as part of the WAC's television package. ... Bayno also said he will make a decision Friday as to whether Keon Clark and Kevin Simmons will play in Saturday's exhibition game against USDBL. "I'm still thinking about it," he said.

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