The Utah State men’s basketball team is receiving votes for the Associated Press Top 25 poll college basketball in its first preseason ranking released Monday. A lot of votes.
So many votes, in fact, that AP ranks the Aggies at No. 17. It is the third time in school history the Aggies have been ranked in the first poll of the season. The last time was in 1970-71, when USU was ranked No. 12.
The Aggies finished with a 28-7 overall record last season, winning the Mountain West Conference championship and earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the conference tournament. Last week, USU was unanimously picked by media to repeat as MWC champs.
Utah State will return four starters in the upcoming 2019-2020 season, all of whom played integral roles to the team’s success last year. One of those is senior Sam Merrill, who was picked as the MWC Preseason Player of the Year.
Sophomore Center Neemias Queta, who appears to have fully recovered from an offseason knee injury, was a preseason all-league selection along with Merrill.
Rounding out the four returning starters are sophomore guard Brock Miller and junior guard Abel Porter.
USU will play the College of Idaho in an exhibition on Wednesday, Oct. 30. The home opener for the Aggies is Tuesday, Nov. 5, against Montana State.