Boise State Basketball Picked 5th in Mountain West

Boise State men’s basketball was projected to finish fifth in the Mountain West, the league announced Tuesday. Redshirt junior Derrick Alston was selected to the five-man All-MW Preseason Team. The predicted order of finish and the preseason all-league team were chosen by a poll of media members who cover the conference.

The Broncos return four starters from last year’s team that tied for eighth in the conference. This year’s team earned 128 points in the preseason poll, just behind fourth-place Nevada (135) and well clear of sixth-place Fresno State (103). The top three spots in the poll went to Utah State, San Diego State and New Mexico.

Alston burst onto the scene last year and earned honorable mention all-league accolades after finishing the season as Boise State’s second-leading scorer at 13.4 points per game. Alston led the Broncos at 16 points per game in MW play, including a pair of 30-point outbursts. The breakout season came on the heels of a redshirt freshman campaign in which Alston averaged 0.6 points in 11 games off the bench. His 12.8-points-per-game scoring increase from one year to the next was the most by a returner in Boise State history and second best in NCAA Division I last season.

Utah State was the unanimous choice to win the conference. The Aggies shared the regular-season title last season and won the Mountain West Championship behind 2018-19 MW Player of the Year Sam Merrill, who was picked to repeat as the top individual honoree.

2019-20 MOUNTAIN WEST PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH

Rank Team (First-Place Votes) Points

1. Utah State (17) 187

2. San Diego State 150

3. New Mexico 141

4. Nevada 135

5. Boise State 128

6. Fresno State 103

7. UNLV 89

8. Air Force 76

9. Colorado State 59

10. Wyoming 36