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Ogden • Defending champion Weber State was picked to repeat in Big Sky Conference coaches and media preseason basketball polls, the league announced Thursday.
Southern Utah, 1-19 in conference play last season, was picked 12th in both polls.
"It's always an honor to be picked first," Weber State coach Randy Rahe said. "… I never put too much stock in the polls, but we always have high expectations for our team and I'm excited about the group of players we have this year."
Weber State received eight first-place votes in the coaches' poll and totaled 117 points.
Eastern Washington had one first-place vote and 100 points to finish second, just ahead of Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks received two first-place votes and finished with 99 points.
In the media poll, Weber State received 31 of 36 first-place votes and finished with 424 points. Northern Arizona second with four first-place votes and 339 total points. Eastern Washington was third with one first-place vote and 318 total points.
Weber State returns starters Jeremy Senglin and Joel Bolomboy from a team which finished 19-12 overall and 14-6 in the conference last season. Senglin was the Big Sky's Freshman of the Year. Bolomboy was the conference's Defensive Player of the Year.