UNLV at familiar place in Mountain West football preseason poll

The Mountain West released its preseason football poll Thursday ahead of its annual media days at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, and UNLV is in a familiar place.

At the bottom.

The Rebels were picked to finish last in the conference’s West Division by a panel of the league’s media, garnering a total of 26 points — the fewest among the 12 teams in the league. Rival UNR was picked first in the West, earning 19 votes and a total of 141 points.

Boise State was picked to win the Mountain Division for the ninth consecutive season.

UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo said the Rebels “pay very little attention” to the preseason poll, but noted that “if we start worrying about that stuff, we’re worried about the wrong stuff.”

“What anybody decides where you get picked has nothing to do with your football team. We don’t control that,” he said. “The only thing we control is how we play and how we work together.”

Defending conference champion San Jose State was picked to finish second in the West division, receiving five first-place votes. The Spartans finished 6-0 last season and earned a 34-20 victory over Boise State in the conference championship game at Sam Boyd Stadium to capture the first Mountain West title in program history.

This season will be the ninth in which the Mountain West has utilized divisional play. Boise State has won a league-high three conference championship games. San Diego State and Fresno State have two apiece.

This year’s conference title game is scheduled for Dec. 4. The divisional champion with the best winning percentage in league play will host the game.

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.