This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Las Vegas • Boise State and San Diego State are favored to win their divisions and reach the Mountain West championship game, according to the conference's preseason poll released Tuesday.

Boise State was picked first in the Mountain Division. The Broncos collected 27 of the 29 votes from media members who regularly cover the conference. They totaled 172 points in the balloting.

Air Force (126), Utah State (111), Colorado State (95), New Mexico (74) and Wyoming (31) followed Boise State, which returns 12 starters, including eight on offense.

The Broncos finished 9-4 last season. They went 5-3 in the Mountain West.

San Diego State was the unanimous preseason pick to win the West Division. The Aztecs finished with 174 points, followed by Nevada (129), San Jose (122), Fresno State (76), UNLV (73) and Hawaii (35).

San Diego State, the defending conference champion, won their final 10 games last year and ended up 11-3. The Aztecs return 14 starters from a team that finished with victories over Air Force in the Mountain West title game (27-24) and Cincinnati in the Hawaii Bowl (42-7).

Juan Diego's Cox leads Lobo defense

New Mexico linebacker Dakota Cox, a product of Juan Diego High School in Sandy, was named to the preseason all-All Mountain West Conference team.

Last year, Cox returned from knee surgery in ninth months and led the Lobos with 97 tackles, which ranked 10th in the league.

Before his senior year at Juan Diego, Cox committed to Cincinnati. But after a coaching change, he switched.

"I visited New Mexico and fell in love with the place," Cox said, "I loved what the coaches were trying to do — how they were trying to build the program. … I'm lucky to be where I am."

Cox believes he was "under-recruited" coming out of high school, but he probably wouldn't have stayed in Utah even if he'd been offered.

"I didn't want to stay in-state," he said. "I wanted to leave. I wanted to do something different — go off the path and make my own name somewhere else. That's how I found New Mexico."

The long-suffering Lobos finished 7-6 overall last season, including a 45-37 loss to Arizona in the New Mexico Bowl.

"We're not settled with going to a bowl game," Cox said. "We want to work for a championship. We've crossed over the plateau now and we want to do even more."

Aztecs dominate player awards

The Mountain West media also voted on individual preseason awards, and San Diego State scored a sweep.

Running back Donnel Pumphrey was named the Offensive Player of the Year, cornerback Damontae Kazee was voted Defensive Player of the Year and return man Rashaad Penny was named Special Teams Player of the Year. It's the first time since 2010 that the three preseason awards went to players from the same school.

Twitter: @luhm —

Mountain West preseason poll

Results of the Mountain West Conferences preseason media poll. First place votes in parenthesis:

Mountain Division

1. Boise State (27) 172

2. Air Force (2) 126

3. Utah State 111

4. Colorado State 95

5. New Mexico 74

6. Wyoming 31

West Division

1. San Diego St. (29) 174

2. Nevada 129

3. San Jose State 122

3. Fresno State 76

5. UNLV 73

6. Hawaii 35