Conference Preview: Utah St., New Mexico St. lead way in WAC

Nov 2, 2012, 7:30 PM EDT

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For all the concern about the health of leagues such as the Big East and Big 12, there’s no conference that’s had more to deal with from a realignment standpoint than the WAC. And things got even tougher when Idaho made the decision to move its non-football sports to the Big Sky in 2014, adding themselves to the list of schools that will be leaving the conference in the future. With six of the ten teams scheduled to leave the conference at the end of this academic year the WAC will look a lot different in 2013.

So who wins the league in 2012-13? At the top of the list have to be two of the programs that have ranked among the most consistent in the WAC in recent years. Utah State, which had a down year by its standards last season, is ready to once again contend with junior guard Preston Medlin leading the way. New Mexico State may have lost a few key contributors led by Wendell McKines but guard Daniel Mullings is back, and the Aggies are talented enough to return to the NCAA tournament.

The newcomer that’s most capable of winning the WAC? That would be Denver, who was one of the better teams in the Sun Belt last season and will rely on forwards Chris Udofia and Royce O’Neale. UT Arlington is also making its WAC debut on the heels of a 24-win campaign and a Southland regular season title, and even with the loss of their top two scorers the Mavericks will be a formidable team.

Louisiana Tech and Idaho both return players who received postseason honors last year, with WAC Freshman of the Year Raheem Appleby back in Ruston and senior center Kyle Barone leading the Vandals. Guard Kannon Burrage and forward Jeromie Hill return to a UTSA squad that won 18 games last season, and three of the Roadrunners’ top four scorers from last season are back.

San Jose State, Seattle and Texas State all have major questions to answer, which will make it tough on them to have a significant impact on the title race. Enjoy this group of schools while you can, because the WAC is going to look a lot different come 2013.

All-Conference Team (* denotes Player of the Year)
G Raheem Appleby (Louisiana Tech)
G Daniel Mullings (New Mexico State)
G Preston Medlin (Utah State)*
F Chris Udofia (Denver)
C Kyle Barone (Idaho)

Predicted Standings
1. Utah State
2. New Mexico State
3. Denver
4. UT Arlington
5. Louisiana Tech
6. Idaho
7. UTSA
8. San Jose State
9. Seattle
10. Texas State

Raphielle is also the assistant editor at CollegeHoops.net and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.