The Mountain West preseason media poll and all-conference teams just came out from here at Media Day in Las Vegas.
Wyoming was picked sixth, which didn’t surprise me. I had the Cowboys fifth, but you can argue that the fifth through eighth-place teams could finish anywhere in that grouping.
Senior defensive end Josh Biezuns was the only UW player on the all-conference team. I also had senior cornerback Tashaun Gipson on my ballot, but Air Force senior Anthony Wright got the majority of the votes from the media. I had TCU linebacker Tanner Brock on my ballot, while the rest of the media had CSU senior Mychal Sisson. My all-conference kicker was Ross Evans from TCU, the rest of the media had James Aho of New Mexico.
Other than that, my ballot and my predicted order of finish matched everyone else. See that list below.
An interesting note on the predicted order of finish: Boise State is the clear-cut favorite in its first year in the league. The last time a new team joined the MWC was in 2005 with TCU, and the Horned Frogs won the MW that year. They were picked to finish sixth.
Nineteen of the 25 players on the all-conference preseason team came from the top four teams in the preseason poll. Boise State had the most with seven.
2011 Mountain West Preseason Media Poll
(first-place votes) Points
1. Boise State (28) 236
2. TCU(3) 208
3. Air Force 176
4. San Diego State 160
5. Colorado State 104
6. Wyoming 80
7. UNLV 77
8. New Mexico 39
2011 Preseason All-Mountain West Team
Offense
QB Kellen Moore Sr. Boise State
WR Phillip Payne Sr. UNLV
WR Josh Boyce So. TCU
RB Ronnie Hillman* So. San Diego State
RB Doug Martin Sr. Boise State
OL Nate Porter Sr. Boise State
OL A.J. Wallerstein** Sr. Air Force
OL Kyle Dooley Sr. TCU
OL Thomas Byrd Sr. Boise State
OL Paul Madsen** Sr. Colorado State
TE Lucas Reed** Jr. New Mexico
Defense
DL Billy Winn Sr. Boise State
DL Shea McClellin Sr. Boise State
DL Stansly Maponga** So. TCU
DL Josh Biezuns** Sr. Wyoming
LB Tank Carder#* Sr. TCU
LB Mycal Sisson** Sr. Colorado State
LB Miles Burris Sr. San Diego State
DB George Iloka Sr. Boise State
DB Leon McFadden* Jr. San Diego State
DB Anthony Wright Sr. Air Force
DB Jon David Sr. Air Force
Specialists
P Brian Stahovich* Sr. San Diego State
PK James Aho Sr. New Mexico
Ret. Jonathan Warzeka Sr. Air Force
Offensive Player of the Year: QB Kellen Moore, Boise State
Defensive Player of the Year: LB Tank Carder, TCU
Special Teams Player of the Year: Jonathan Warzeka, Air Force
#Unanimous 2011 preseason selection
*2010 All-Mountain West first team
**2010 All-Mountain West second team