The Cal Poly men’s basketball team was tabbed to finish sixth by Big West Conference coaches and eighth in a media poll at the Big West media day in Irvine on Wednesday.
Both polls selected Cal State Northridge to win the conference, with UC Santa Barbara as the runner-up in each.
The Matadors earned 14 of the 20 first-place media votes while the second-place Gauchos took three, Pacific two and Cal State Fullerton one.
Cal State Northridge was an almost unanimous coaches selection to win the conference, as it took eight of nine first-place votes.
The Matadors also have two players on the preseason all-conference team in seniors Tremaine Townsend and Deon Tresvant.
Townsend, a 6-foot-9 forward, was the first player in six years to lead the Big West in both rebounding (9.8 per game) and blocked shots (1.3 per game). He also averaged 10.1 points per game.
Tresvant, who won conference sixth man of the year honors last year, averaged a team-high 13.9 points.
Also selected to the all-conference team were Cal State Fullerton senior guard Josh Akognon, Pacific senior forward Anthony Brown, UC Santa Barbara senior forward Chris Devine and Long Beach State senior guard Donovan Morris.
Cal Poly returns three full-time starters from last year’s 12-18 team that finished sixth in the Big West regular season before being eliminated by UC Riverside in the first round of the conference tournament.
Editor’s note: For a full preview of the men’s basketball season, see the Mustang Daily next week.