2020 Mountain West Basketball Preseason Awards

Mountain West hosting its media days.

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

Who is projected to win the league?

Mountain West media days are here and the league and media made projections about order of finish, best players, newcomers and more.

College basketball is finally here and will be starting on Nov. 25, which is just two weeks away. The media and teams are converging virtually to conduct interviews with coaches over the next few days.

The order of finis had three teams earning first-place votes in San Diego State, Boise State, and Utah State. It is the Aztecs who are projected to win the conference with 14 of the 20 first-place votes.

𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬-𝟮𝟭 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵@Aztec_MBB is the preseason favorite with @BroncoSportsMBB and @USUBasketball also receiving first place votes!#MWMBB | #AtThePeak pic.twitter.com/5XvhCB1sWk

— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 11, 2020

It is mildly surprising to see Utah State land a few first-place votes despite losing Sam Merrill to the NBA Draft but they do return key players like Justin Bean and Neemias Queta.

Last year, it was Utah State that won the Mountain West tournament over San Diego State and those two teams, along with Boise State, should be in the mix for the conference title.

One underdog that could surprise is UNLV. The Rebels are heading into the second year of the T.J. Otzelberger as the Rebels have an all-conference player in Bryce Hamilton and were awarded the freshman of the year in Nick Blake and newcomer in David Jenkins, Jr.

One team that will likely overachieve its placing is Wyoming and maybe even Fresno State which are eighth and ninth in the preseason poll. Conversely, New Mexico which lost so many players off of last year’s teams and had discipline issues might not meet or even exceed its eighth-place projections.

Mountain West Basketball Makes Changes To Conference Schedule

1. San Diego State (14), 211

2. Boise State (4), 188

3. Utah State (2), 177

4. UNLV, 160

5. Colorado State, 141

6. Nevada, 114

7. New Mexico, 106

8. Fresno State, 93

9. Wyoming, 59

10. Air Force, 39

11. San José State, 32

PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

The Mountain West hands out player of the year, newcomer and freshman. Plus, the usual all-conference team.

The all-league team featured one player from each team and all five come from teams projected to finish in the top five.

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝗹-𝗠𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁#MWMBB | #AtThePeak pic.twitter.com/DwgXCgtycq

— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 11, 2020

Preseason Player of the Year: Derrick Alston Jr., Sr., G, Boise State

Just the beginning @deejuusz #BleedBlue

🔗 https://t.co/921VLZLvUT pic.twitter.com/ZlwoylXmHP

— Boise State MBB (@BroncoSportsMBB) November 11, 2020

Preseason Newcomer of the Year: David Jenkins, Jr., Jr., G, UNLV

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿

David Jenkins, Jr.@TheRunninRebels #MWMBB | #AtThePeak | #BEaREBEL pic.twitter.com/1e6zUsYTeS

— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 11, 2020

Preseason Freshman of the Year: Nick Blake, G, UNLV

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿

Nick Blake@TheRunninRebels #MWMBB | #AtThePeak | #BEaREBEL pic.twitter.com/YDs0Tu10Jm

— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 11, 2020