Monday, Oct. 25, 2004 | 10:13 a.m.
Men
Team (first-place votes)...Pts.
1. UNLV (14)...182
2. Utah (7)...169
3. Air Force (4)...142
4. New Mexico...122
5. BYU...92
6. Colorado State...87
7. San Diego State...71
8. Wyoming...35
All-MWC Team
Danny Granger, Sr., F, New Mexico; Odartey Blankson, Sr., F, UNLV; Andrew Bogut, Soph., F, Utah; Matt Nelson, Sr., C, Top returning player: Granger.
Top newcomer: Justin Williams, Jr., F/C, Wyoming.
Women
Team (first-place votes)...Pts.
1. UNLV (5)...134
2. New Mexico (8)...131
(tie)Utah (7)...131
4. Colorado State...92
5. BYU...88
6. Wyoming...65
7. San Diego State...43
8. Air Force...28
All-MWC Team
Kim Smith, Jr., F, Utah; RanDee Henry, Sr., F/C, UNLV; Sherry McCracklin, Sr., F/C, UNLV; Mandi Moore, Sr., G, New Mexico; Ashley Elliott, Sr., G, Wyoming.
Top returning player: Smith.
Top newcomer: Mary Martha Abell, Fr., F, BYU. Colorado State; Nick Welch , Jr., C, Air Force.
DENVER --- With another disappointing football season coming to a close in the next few weeks, many UNLV fans have already started turning their attention to basketball.
And if the preseason media polls that were released at the Mountain West Conference basketball media day here on Sunday mean anything, Rebels basketball followers have a lot to look forward to.
UNLV was picked at the top of both the men's and women's polls. It's the first time in the six years of the Mountain West Conference that either program was picked first in the preseason polling.
Lon Kruger's men's squad garnered 14 of a possible 25 first-place votes to finish with 182 points, ahead of Utah (7, 169) and defending conference champion Air Force (4, 142).
Meanwhile, Regina Miller's Lady Rebels were tabbed the preseason favorite in the closest vote in conference history. UNLV finished with just five first-place votes and 134 overall points to edge New Mexico (8, 131) and Utah (7, 131).
"No real reaction," Kruger said when told of the results. "Polls are what they are. They're good for conversation and they're good for publicity. But I think our players and everyone else know you have to line up and make progress every day. There won't be a lot of discussion about the polls for me."
Not that Kruger wasn't glad to see his program and players get the notoriety that comes with being picked No. 1 in the preseason.
"I think have those expectations and having a program that won a national championship ... as Coach (Jerry) Tarkanian said years ago ... that's healthy and exciting," Kruger said. "Inheriting a group of players that coach (Charlie) Spoonhour left, I feel very fortunate for those guys. They want to have a very good basketball team and they're willing to do what it takes. We've been very impressed with their effort."
Utah, which returns 7-foot Olympian Andrew Bogut as well as 2003-02 second team all-MWC point guard Marc Jackson, has been picked ahead of UNLV in most preseason publications. But Bogut, an Australian who turned down big money to play in Europe to return for his sophomore year under new Utes head coach Ray Giacoletti, said he wasn't upset when he learned UNLV was picked ahead of the Utes.
"It's a preseason poll," Bogut said. "I'd rather be picked second than first. It's a good situation for us."
Why?
"Less pressure the media will have on you every week," Bogut said. "It just puts more pressure on UNLV. They haven't won a conference championship in a while. Now they've been picked to win one."
Added UNLV forward Odartey Blankson, who joined Bogut, New Mexico senior forward Danny Granger, Colorado State center Matt Nelson and Air Force center Nick Welch on the men's preseason all-conference team: "I'm not worried about any added pressure on the team. There's definitely a pressure we're going to put on ourselves to have a good team and perform well. It's not going to change anything about how we good we feel we can be this year."
Miller, who took over a Lady Rebels squad that went 4-23 in 1997-98 and is now shooting for her fifth consecutive postseason berth, seemed to welcome to the challenge of being picked No. 1.
"It's the first time I've had the opportunity to answer this question," she said with a smile. "It caught me a little bit by surprise. I think back six, seven years ago we were just trying to make the conference tournament. When you go from that to be picked to finish first, that's a pretty big accomplishment.
"I think it's nice recognition. Does it mean much? Not really. You know, it's not what you say it's what you do. We totally understand that. It's not going to change our blue-collar work ethic ... to try and accomplish our goals."
The Lady Rebels placed two players on the preseason all-conference team: senior forward/center RanDee Henry, who was the MWC Newcomer of the Year last season, and senior forward/center Sherry McCracklin, who is sidelined until early December with a partially torn Achilles' tendon.
New Mexico senior Danny Granger was named the men's preseason player of the year (or top returning player according to the MWC realease) while Utah forward Kim Smith was named the top returning women's player.
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