October 24, 2007

UC Santa Barbara preseason No. 1
Cal State Fullerton is tied for No. 3 in Big West coaches' poll.
By JANIS CARR
The Orange County Register

IRVINE Coaches talked Wednesday of the parity in the Big West this season and then they proved it by the way they voted in the preseason polls.

UC Santa Barbara was picked by conference coaches at Big West Media Day to win the regular-season title by a slim margin, earning 58 points, while Cal Poly was second at 52 points.

The Gauchos got four first-place votes, the Broncos earned one and perennial power Pacific landed three top votes.

Cal State Fullerton, the conference favorite before forward Scott Cutley got hurt, earned one first-place vote, but was tied with Pacific for third.

UC Irvine was picked to finish fifth and Long Beach, which won last season's title and postseason tournament, was eighth.

The 49ers have lost their top eight scorers and their coach from last season's team that won 24 games. Dan Monson has taken over as coach.

Santa Barbara coach Bob Williams didn't see his team as winning the conference, but said the Gauchos should be included among the favorites.

"We legitimately should be one of the teams that people should be talking about," Williams said.

Williams picked Cal Poly as the favorite because of their depth in the backcourt. The Mustangs, who reached the tournament final, return three guards. He also said Fullerton still should be among the top teams despite the loss of Cutley because of the quickness the other players possess.

Cutley broke his right ankle and is expected to be gone until mid-December and ready for the conference season.

He will have X-rays on Nov. 5 to determine how well the ankle is healing, and if there is no progress, doctors would insert a screw into the ankle and the forward could be lost for the season.

UC Riverside women's basketball team was picked to repeat as champions.

Big West preseason basketball polls

MEN'S MEDIA

1.UC Santa Barbara (13), 152

2.Cal Poly (2), 138

3.Cal State Fullerton (1), 114

4.UC Irvine, 109

5.Pacific, 92

6.Cal State Northridge, 76

7.Long Beach State (2), 52

8.UC Davis, 43

9.UC Riverside, 34

MEN'S COACHES

1.UC Santa Barbara (4), 58

2.Cal Poly (1), 52

3(t). Pacific (3), 48

3(t). Cal State Fullerton (1), 48

5. UC Irvine, 42

6. Cal State Northridge, 31

7. UC Davis, 20

8. Long Beach State, 14

9. UC Riverside, 11

WOMEN'S MEDIA

1.UC Riverside (9), 89

2.UC Santa Barbara (1), 81

3.Cal Poly, 56

4(t). Long Beach State, 53

4(t). UC Davis, 53

6. Cal State Fullerton, 43

7. Cal State Northridge, 30

8. UC Irvine, 25

9. Pacific, 20

WOMEN'S COACHES

1. UC Riverside (8), 64

2. UC Santa Barbara (1), 57

3. UC Davis, 44

4. Cal Poly, 41

5. Long Beach State, 37

6. Cal State Fullerton, 24

7. Pacific, 23

8(t). Cal State Northridge, 17

8(t). UC Irvine, 17