Rebels picked 5th in MWC football preseason poll

If you put much credence into preseason media polls, then this could finally be the year that UNLV’s football team ends up in a bowl game for the first time since the 2000 Las Vegas Bowl.

The Rebels were picked to finish fifth — barely — in a media poll released at today’s Mountain West Conference football media day at Green Valley Ranch Hotel and Casino. UNLV also had two players — senior wide receiver Ryan Wolfe and senior linebacker Jason Beauchamp — picked to the preseason all-MWC squad.

TCU (207 points, 15 first place votes) was picked to win the title followed by BYU (190, 6), defending champ Utah (179, 3), Air Force (130) and UNLV (108), which just nudged out sixth place Colorado State (107) by one point. New Mexico (60), San Diego State (53) and Wyoming (46) rounded out the poll.

The Mountain West Conference has tie-ins with at least five bowl games this year: Maaco Las Vegas Bowl, Poinsettia Bowl, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, New Mexico Bowl and the Humanitarian Bowl. That number could climb to six if the MWC has a team picked for a BCS bowl game and the league has six teams eligible for post-season play.

The fifth place finish in the preseason poll is UNLV’s highest since 2002 when the Rebels were selected fourth. UNLV (5-7) finished tied for sixth in the MWC with New Mexico last year with a 2-6 league mark.

BYU quarterback Max Hall was selected as the MWC’s offensive player of the year while TCU defensive end Jerry Hughes was named defensive player of the year. TCU junior punt returner Jeremy Kerley was chosen as special teams player of the year while TCU running back Ed Wesley was tabbed as freshman of the year.