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Tuesday, July 24, 2012 | 9:35 a.m.
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Boise State enters this season on top of the Mountain West.
The Broncos, who next year will play football in the Big East, are predicted to finish first and have the most preseason all-conference team selections, it was announced Tuesday at the Mountain West’s media days at the Cosmopolitan. The polls are selected by members of the media.
UNLV is predicted to finish ninth and joins New Mexico (10th) as the only teams without a player on the 25-man preseason team.
The Broncos received 27 of 30 first-place votes for a total of 296 points, a comfortable distance ahead of second-place UNR (244). The other first-place votes went to Fresno State (2) and San Diego State (1).
The conference’s new blood is represented well as UNR and Fresno State placed second and third, respectively, and Fresno State junior quarterback Derek Carr was named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. His defensive counterpart is San Diego State senior defensive back Leon McFadden.
Last year, McFadden led the league in passes defended (17) and also had two interceptions. Playing in the Western Athletic Conference as a junior, Carr threw for 3,544 yards with 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Boise State senior return man Mitch Burroughs is the Special Teams Player of the Year. The Broncos placed five members on the preseason team. UNR and Colorado State each had four.
Below is the full preseason lists:
2012 PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
Rk. Team (1st-place votes) Points
1. Boise State (27) 296
2. UNR 244
3. Fresno State (2) 231
4. Wyoming 213
5. San Diego State (1) 173
6. Air Force 170
7. Hawaii 116
8. Colorado State 111
9. UNLV 63
10. New Mexico 33
2012 PRESEASON TEAM
Offense
QB — Derek Carr, Jr., Fresno State
WR — Matt Miller, So., Boise State
WR — Colin Lockett, Jr., San Diego State
RB — Robbie Rouse, Sr., Fresno State
RB — Chris Nwoke, Jr., Colorado State
OL — Chris Barker, Sr., UNR
OL — Joe Kellogg, Sr., Boise State
OL — Weston Richburg, Jr., Colorado State
OL — Nick Carlson, Sr., Wyoming
OL — Jeff Nady, Sr., UNR
TE — Gavin Escobar, Jr., San Diego State
Defense
DL — Mike Purcell, Sr., Wyoming
DL — Mike Atkinson, Sr., Boise State
DL — Paipai Falemalu, Sr., Hawaii
DL — Jack Reynoso, Jr., UNR
LB — Travis Brown, Sr., Fresno State
LB — Shaquil Barrett, Jr., Colorado State
LB — Alex Means, Sr., Air Force
DB — Leon McFadden, Sr., San Diego State
DB — Duke Williams, Sr., UNR
DB — Luke Ruff, Sr., Wyoming
DB — Jamar Taylor, Sr., Boise State
Specialists
P — Pete Kontodiakos, Sr., Colorado State
PK — Parker Herrington, Sr., Air Force
Ret. — Mitch Burroughs, Sr., Boise State
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Derek Carr, Jr., QB, Fresno State
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Leon McFadden, Sr., DB, San Diego State
Preseason Special Teams Player of the Year: Mitch Burroughs, Sr., RS, Boise State
Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.
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