USU men ranked No. 17 in preseason AP Top 25
For only the third time in program history, the Utah State men’s basketball is in the AP Top 25 preseason poll. Voters placed the Aggies at No. 17 in the rankings released Monday morning. Last week, USU was picked as the unanimous favorite to win the Mountain West by the media.
The last time Utah State saw itself in the preseason top 25 was the 1970-71 season, a team with Marv Roberts and Nate Williams — two future NBA players and Aggie legends. The only USU team in the first poll was in 1960-61, Cornell Green’s senior season.
Last year Utah State closed the season by winning 17 of its last 19 games, winning a share of the Mountain West regular-season title and the outright conference tournament crown. That run helped the team eke into the final AP poll released for the season, ending the year ranked 25th in the nation.
The No. 17 ranking to start the season is already the highest rank the Aggies have achieved since March 1917 when the team was ranked 16th.
Confidence in Utah State’s talent comes largely from its two returning stars, Sam Merrill and Neemias Queta. Merrill, a senior this season, won MW Player of the Year last year and is also this year’s preseason conference player of the year. Additionally, Merrill is on the Jerry West Award preseason watch list. Queta, a sophomore center, earned the MW Defensive and Freshman Player of the Year honors last year and is on the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar watch list for this season.
Along with Merrill and Queta, the Aggies return two other starters, point guard Abel Porter and guard/forward Brock Miller. Sixth Man of the Year candidate Diogo Brito also returns with forward Justin Bean who saw a greatly increased role late in the year as a spark off the bench.
Staying in the rankings will not be easy during USU’s non-conference schedule. The Aggies will face two ranked teams in the first months of the season — LSU (No. 22) and Saint Mary’s (No. 20) and a top 10 team in December: No. 6 Florida.
Utah State’s season will begin on Nov. 5 at home against Montana State, six days after an exhibition contest against The College of Idaho.
Twitter: @thejwalk67