Cougars just miss first Top 25 hoops poll

There must be some pretty good college basketball teams in the country, considering the Mountain West Conference, which had four NCAA Tournament teams last year and might be stronger this year, doesn’t have a team in the first USA Today Top 25 college basketball poll. San Diego State, picked to win the MWC with five starters back, is the first team among the “others receiving votes”, so basically ranked No. 26. The BYU Cougars are next in line, or ranked No. 27. Also in the almost category are UNLV (31st), Utah State (40th) and New Mexico (44th). If I remember correctly, this is close to what the preseason rankings were like last year for the MWC teams, maybe not even this much respect. The Cougars, their fellow MWC teams and Utah State just need to do what they did last season, win their non-conference games – especially those against other ranked opponents. Honestly, the first few polls don’t mean much. What this poll does show, however, is that the MWC didn’t make up a much ground with last year’s stellar campaign in the struggle to gain national respect. One thing that I really find interesting about this first preseason poll is the ranking of Florida, the team that BYU beat in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last March. The Gators are ranked No. 11. Kansas State, the team that ended BYU’s season, is ranked No. 3.