Utah State preseason favorite to win MW
The season hasn’t even begun and Utah State basketball is already making history. The Mountain West’s preseason media poll came out this morning with the Aggies as a unanimous pick to win the league.
USU garnered all 17 first-place votes from conference media, becoming the first team since The University of Utah to be a unanimous preseason media pick. The Utes earned all 28 media votes prior to the inaugural 1999 MW season.
This year is the first time the Aggies have been picked first in the MW preseason poll and only the second time the team was predicted to finish higher than fifth since joining the conference in 2013. During its eight seasons in the WAC, Utah State was picked to finish first five times, including each of the last four years USU was part of the conference.
A look at the @USUBasketball placement in preseason media polls (2005-2019)
— WAC —
2005 – 2nd
2006 – 4th
2007 – 1st
2008 – 2nd
2009 – 1st
2010 – 1st
2011 – 1st
2012 – 1st
— MW —
2013 – 5th
2014 – 10th
2015 – 3rd
2016 – 6th
2017 – 8th
2018 – 9th
2019 – 1st— Jason Walker (@thejwalk67) October 15, 2019
Both the Mountain West and Utah State Athletics claim this year is the first time a team has received all possible first-place votes. In a press release from USU, head coach Craig Smith said it was “humbling” to be the unanimous favorite.
“The Mountain West has a rich tradition of excellence in men’s basketball,” the second-year head coach said.
However, Smith reiterated a common theme with his teams: prove it on the court and not in the polls or on paper.
“We aren’t really into polls and rankings in our program,” Smith said. “This team hasn’t proven anything and our goal is to be on top of the MW at the end of the year.”
Sam Merrill plays at Aggie Madness at the Wayne Estes Center on October 10, 2019. Merrill was selected as the preseason Mountain West Player of the Year on Tuesday.
Along with being selected as the preseason favorite, multiple Aggies received honors from the voters. Sam Merrill was named the preseason Player of the Year after winning the actual POY trophy at the end of the 2018-19 season alongside the MW Tournament MVP award.
Merrill scored a conference-best 731 points (20.9 per game) in 2018-19 which was also fifth-most all-time for an Aggie in a single season. Additionally, the then-junior led USU with 4.2 assists per game, fifth in the MW. Merrill also led the league in free throw percentage (90.9), offensive rating, win shares, offensive win shares and offensive box plus/minus.
Mountain West officials also announced the preseason All-Conference team and both Merrill and teammate Neemias Queta appeared among the five players listed. Air Force senior forward Lavell Scottie, Boise State junior guard Derrick Alston and Colorado State senior center Nico Carvacho were the others honored.
At the end of the regular season last year, Queta earned both defensive and freshman player of the year honors and was second-team All-Conference. The 7-foot center shattered the USU single-season blocks record, rejecting 84 shots (2.4 per game) and led the MW in that stat. He also grabbed 8.9 rebounds per game (fifth in the conference) and averaged 11.8 points.
Utah State center Neemias Queta goes for a block against Fresno State guard Braxton Huggins in the 2018-19 Mountain West Conferent Tournament. Queta was selected to the MW preseason All-Conference team on Tuesday.
These expectations present a new challenge for a revived Utah State program. Last year USU faced numerous challenges but one they hardly faced was that of high expectations. The Aggies were picked to finish ninth in the preseason poll a year ago and did not crack the AP Top 25 until late in the season. That low pick in last year’s poll put a chip on the shoulders of players and coaches and motivated them throughout the season. It’s a luxury they won’t have in 2019-20.
Smith and crew are certainly aware of this and have been for a while. But for him, it’s simply a new challenge and a new privilege.
“A lot of people have (said) ‘well now this year you’re the hunted and last year you were the hunter.’” Smith said on a July episode of The Statesman Sports Desk podcast. “I get it, and everybody goes by that and I understand that and we’ll have more of a target on our back. But pressure is a privilege, it’s what you make of it. We dealt with that last year, we won the league in the regular season we won with a target on our back in the conference tournament. You have all that stuff but at the end of the day none of that stuff matters and you’ve got to eliminate the noise.”
Utah State’s season will tip off officially on Nov. 5 when the team hosts Montana State. The Aggies will be in action six days prior to that season opener in a home exhibition game against The College of Idaho.