Rebels picked 4th in Mountain West preseason men’s basketball poll
The UNLV men's basketball team is predicted to finish fourth in the Mountain West, the conference announced Tuesday at its annual media day event.
The Rebels received no first-place votes and were selected behind top-ranked San Diego State (22 first-place votes), Boise State (two first place votes) and Utah State.
UNLV head coach Dave Rice was mum when asked about the standings. The fifth-year head coach said only that his team wanted to improve from last season's 8-10 conference record.
"We're all more concerned about what the poll looks like at the end of the season than the beginning of the season," Rice said. "These are more for generating interest."
UNLV players at media day echoed Rice's sentiment on Tuesday, saying the rankings were meaningless to them.
"We don’t think about what they have us ranked. We just want to get to work," said senior guard Jerome Seagears. "Our main focus is daily improvement."
"Our long-term goals outweigh a preseason poll," added sophomore forward Patrick McCaw. "This doesn't mean anything to us."
Contact Chris Kudialis at ckudialis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4593. Find him on Twitter: @kudialisrj
2015-16 Preseason Men's Basketball Rankings (First place votes)
1. San Diego State (22) - 272 points
2. Boise State (2) - 234 points
3. Utah State - 190 points
4. UNLV - 185 points
5. Fresno State (1) - 182 points
6. New Mexico - 164 points
7. Colorado State - 144 points
8. Wyoming - 101 points
9. Nevada - 97 points
10 Air Force - 51 points
11. San Jose State - 30 points
