:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/2132956/GYI0063896072.jpg)
The Mountain West held its conference media day for basketball on Wednesday and the league is entering a new era with new teams and departing ones. The Utah Utes and BYU Cougars are no longer in the league and the Boise St. Broncos are the the newest team.
On the men's side the New Mexico Lobos are the overwhelming favorite by garnering 22-of-26 first place votes with the UNLV Rebels getting the other four first place votes. The Colorado St. Rams are predicted to finish fourth and the Air Force Falcons are a mild surprise to be predicted to finish fifth in the league, however the difference between Colorado State and Air Force is a large margin.
Here is the complete preseason predictions and all-conference side:
| 2011-12 PRESEASON MEDIA POLL | ||
| Rk. | School (First-Place Votes | Pts. |
| 1. | New Mexico (22) | 203 |
| 2. | UNLV (4) | 183 |
| 3. | San Diego State | 158 |
| 4. | Colorado State | 119 |
| 5. | Air Force | 78 |
| 6. | Wyoming | 68 |
| 7. | TCU | 64 |
| 8. | Boise State | 63 |
| 2011-12 MOUNTAIN WEST PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM | |||
| Name | Class | Position | Institution |
| Oscar Bellfield | Sr. | G | UNLV |
| Drew Gordon | Sr. | F | New Mexico |
| Chace Stanback | Sr. | G/F | UNLV |
| Hank Thorns | Sr. | G | TCU |
| Kendall Williams | So. | G | New Mexico |
| Preseason Player of the Year | |||
| Drew Gordon, Sr., F, New Mexico | |||
| Preseason Newcomer of the Year | |||
| Xavier Thames, So., G, San Diego State | |||
| Preseason Freshman of the Year | |||
| Hugh Greenwood, G, New Mexico | |||
While none of the Air Force or Colorado State men's players made the preseason all-conference team, however on the women's side Air Force forward Dymond James is the first lady Falcon to be named to preseason honors in their history in the Mountain West. Not to be outdone, Colorado State's Kim Mestdagh was named as the preseason player of the year. As for team predictions Colorado State gained one first place vote and is predicted to finish third with Air Force predicted to finish eighth.