Led by preseason all-WCC Childs, BYU basketball picked to finish 3rd in league

LAS VEGAS — BYU men’s basketball opened the 2018-19 season in a familiar — and some might even say, predictable — spot Thursday.

The Cougars were picked to finish third in the West Coast Conference annual preseason coaches' poll, behind perennial heavyweight Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, the conference announced Thursday at its annual WCC Tipoff media day in Las Vegas.

Teams cannot vote for themselves, and BYU received one first-place vote before being edged out by the Gaels overall, 68 points to 67.

San Francisco leads the "other" teams in the league, picked fourth overall, followed by San Diego, Pacific, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, Santa Clara and Portland.

The Zags, who finish 32-5 in 2017-18 with a 17-1 record in league play, were a unanimous pick to win the league. Gonzaga owns a four-year streak of Sweet 16 appearances in the NCAA Tournament — the longest active streak in the country — and returns a roster that includes preseason first-team All-American Rui Hachimura and Bob Cousy Award watch list candidate Josh Perkins.

“I think we always have high expectations at our place, which is a good thing. We welcome that," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said during the WCC Tipoff event. "I think we knew we were on the brink of an opportunity to not only be good, but to be one of the real special teams. We’ll figure out this year if we can make that happen or not."

Like BYU, Saint Mary’s (30-6, 16-2 WCC) narrowly missed out on the NCAA Tournament a year ago, owed most to its low-rated out-of-conference schedule. The Gaels have non-league contests with Utah Valley, New Mexico State, Utah State, Arizona State or Mississippi State, Cal and LSU, among others.

BYU has qualified for the postseason in 13-consecutive seasons, but hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2015. The Cougars are led by All-WCC preseason selection Yoeli Childs, who averaged 17.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game as a sophomore before testing the NBA draft waters and returning to school.

"I’m happy that players now have the opportunity to go in, see where they are, and come back," Childs said. "I would encourage players to go in and see where they are at."

Each of the top-three coaches used a new rule requiring two fewer WCC games to embolden their non-conference schedule.

"Every coach took it and ran with it as far as what is best for their program," Rose said during the WCC Tipoff. "For us, we used one opportunity to get a return game with a team that has played for the Mountain West tournament title several years. And we wanted a quadrant one game, so we go on the road and play Mississippi State.

"He agreed for us to play, and I wanted to do it for Jahshire (Hardnett), because he is from there. Those two games are going to be a real challenge for us. I know our guys our excited about playing those games."

A first-team All-WCC selection last year, the former Bingham High star was also named to the watch list for the 2019 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award.

BYU opens the season Nov. 6 at Nevada. After non-league play that includes matchups with four in-state opponents to go with UNLV, San Diego State and Mississippi State, the Cougars begin conference play Jan. 3 at Pacific.

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