Heading into Wednesday's Western Athletic Conference Media Days, the belief was that the New Mexico State Aggies would be picked either sixth or seventh in the two preseason polls.
That belief played itself out. The Aggies, who were 4-9 overall and 1-7 in the WAC last year, were selected seventh in both the coaches' poll and media poll.
"The polls are something fun to look at it, but we can't worry about it as a team,"
NMSU senior quarterback Chase Holbrook said. "We're excited about our season and we're working hard to get better for 2008."
Fresno State was the clear winner in the coaches' poll, earning seven of the nine first-place votes and 63 points overall. Boise State followed with the other two first-place votes and 57 total points.
Nevada was selected third, followed by 2007 WAC champ Hawaii, Louisiana Tech and San Jose State tied for fifth, then NMSU, Idaho was picked eighth and Utah State was selected last.
Boise State earned top honors in the media poll with 25 first-place votes and 383 points, just ahead of Fresno State, which had 20 first-place votes and 379 points. Nevada was third, followed by Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, San Jose State, NMSU, Idaho and Utah State.
"Fresno State and Boise State deserve the top honors,"
NMSU head coach Hal Mumme said. "Those are two very good teams and they both have talented squads."
Added NMSU defensive back Davon House: "I don't pay too much attention to the polls. You look at the stats and results and you come up with the order of finish. If you look at our stats, we should have been picked eighth, we won one game in conference last year. But this is a new year, we are working hard and our goal is to be better than last year and we believe that we can be."
Last year NMSU was picked to finish sixth in both polls.
Fresno State went 9-4 overall last season and 6-2 in league play, while Boise State was 10-3. Fresno State won the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl, beating Georgia Tech, while Boise State fell in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.
"This is the best team we've had since I've been here,"
Bulldogs senior quarterback Tom Brandstater said. "We finished the season strong last year and hopefully that will carry over into this year. But we also know that this is a tough league and we respect everyone. We get Hawaii at home and Boise State on the road in the final game of the season. We'd love to be playing Boise State for the title on Nov. 28, but we take it game by game."
The consensus among the three coaches who spoke on Wednesday and some of the players was that the league is better from one through nine and that you can't take anyone for granted.
"You better come with your best every week,"
Nevada coach Chris Ault said. "There are good teams in this league with good coaches."
Boise State running back Ian Johnson was voted the preseason Offensive Player of the Year by the media. The senior has rushed for 3,417 yards and scored 46 touchdowns. He ran for 1,041 yards last year.
"Ian's a great back and he's accomplished so much,"
Holbrook said. "Just based on what's he's accomplished, he's the top back in the league."
The media tabbed Hawaii linebacker Solomon Elimimian as the preseason Defensive Player of the Year. The senior was an all-WAC performer last year after leading the team in tackles with 141, including 12 for a loss.
