The Idaho men's basketball team was picked fifth by the media and sixth by the coaches in the Western Athletic Conference preaseason polls, released Wednesday.

Idaho returns two starters and eight letter winners from the team that went 19-14 overall and finished third in the conference and advanced to the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament last season.

Defending WAC tournament champion New Mexico State and Utah State both earned five first-place votes from the coaches, but New Mexico State edged Utah State by one point as the preseason favorite.

In the media poll, Utah State claimed 15 of 25 first-place nods for 232 points, while New Mexico State had eight votes and 223 points in second.

Idaho senior center Kyle Barone was a preseason first team selection in the coaches poll and was one of five on the media's preseason All-WAC team and enters the season as Idaho's active career leader in points (917), rebounds (578), assists (93) and blocks (86).

Idaho opens its regular season with three straight home games at Memorial Gym, starting with Wright State on Friday, Nov. 9 at 7:05 p.m.

2012-13 MEN'S MEDIA PRESEASON MEDIA POLL

First place votes in parentheses, followed by total votes

1, Utah State (15) 232. 2, New Mexico State (8) 223. 3, Denver (1) 181. 4, Louisiana Tech 162. 5, Idaho 144. 6, UT Arlington (1) 137. 7, Texas-San Antonio 104. 8, Seattle 77. 9, San Jose State 61. 10, Texas State 54.

ALL-WAC TEAM

Raheem Appleby, so., G, Louisiana Tech; Kyle Barone, sr., C, Idaho; Preston Medlin, jr., G, Utah State; Daniel Mullings, so., G, New Mexico State; Chris Udofia, jr., F, Denver.

Preseason Player of the Year - Preston Medlin, jr., G, Utah State.

Newcomer of the Year - Jarred Shaw, jr., F/C, Utah State.

COACHES POLL

1, New Mexico State (5) 77. 2, Utah State (5) 76. 3, Denver 65. 4, Louisiana Tech 54. 5, Texas-Arlington 48. 6, Idaho 45. 7, Texas-San Antonio 31. 8, Seattle 22. 9, San Jose State 18. 10, Texas State 14.

ALL-WAC TEAMS

FIRST TEAM - Raheem Appleby, so., G, Louisiana Tech; Kyle Barone, sr., C, Idaho; Preston Medlin, jr., G, Utah State; Daniel Mullings, so., G, New Mexico State; Chris Udofia, jr., F, Denver. SECOND TEAM - Kevin Butler, sr., F, Texas-Arlington; Jeromie Hill, jr., F, Texas-San Antonio; James Kinney, sr., G, San Jose State; Kyisean Reed, sr., F, Utah State; Tyrone Watson, sr., F, New Mexico State.

Player of the Year - Preston Medlin, Utah State.

Vandal women picked 5th by coaches, 6th in media poll: The Vandal women's team was picked fifth by the coaches and sixth by the media, while Alyssa Charlston earned preseason All-WAC first team honors and sophomore Krissy Karr earned second team honors in both polls.

Idaho finished fourth in 2011-12 after going 6-8 in conference play, winning six of their final nine conference games to finish 12-20 and advanced to the semifinals of the WAC tournament for the second time in three years.

Idaho opens the season at Wyoming on Nov. 9 and at Colorado on Nov. 11 before the home opener on Nov. 16 against Portland.

2012-13 PRESEASON WOMEN'S BASKETBALL MEDIA POLL

First place votes in parentheses, followed by total votes

1, Utah State (9) 165. 2, Louisiana Tech (4) 145. 3, Denver (1) 135. 4, Seattle (2) 111. 5, Texas State (1) 105. 6, Idaho 91. 7, San Jose State 70. 8, Texas-San Antonio 59. 9, New Mexico State (1) 56. 10, Texas-Arlington 53.

ALL-WAC TEAMS

FIRST TEAM - Alyssa Charlston, Idaho; Devyn Christensen, Utah State; Whitney Frazier, Louisiana Tech; Diamond Ford, Texas State; Kacie Sowell, Seattle. SECOND TEAM - Ta'Rea Cunnigan, San Jose State; Stefanie Gilbreath, New Mexico State; Krissy Karr, Idaho; Kelia Shelton, Louisiana Tech; Emiko Smith, Denver.

Preseason Player of the Year - Devyn Christensen, Utah State.

COACHES POLL

1, Utah State (7) 78. 2, Louisiana Tech (3) 75. 3, Denver 55. 4, Seattle 48. 5, Idaho 47. 6, Texas State 41. 7, San Jose State 36. 8, New Mexico State 27. 9, Texas-San Antonio 26. 10, Texas-Arlington 17.

ALL WAC TEAM

FIRST TEAM - Alyssa Charlston, Idaho; Devyn Christensen, Utah State; Whitney Frazier, Louisiana Tech; Diamond Ford, Texas State; Kacie Sowell, Seattle. SECOND TEAM - Krissy Carr, Idaho; Ta'Rea Cunnigan, San Jose State; Quincey Noonan, Denver; Emiko Smith, Denver; Ashley Ward, Seattle.

Preseason Player of the Year - Devyn Christensen, Utah State.