A media panel selected UC Santa Barbara to successfully defend its Big West men's basketball title in the 2010-11 preseason poll released today.
   
UC Santa Barbara received 20 first-place votes from the 23-member voting panel for a total of 204 points.  The Gauchos, which captured both the conference co-regular season and tournament championships in 2009-10, return all five starters from the team that finished 20-10 overall.  Junior guard Orlando Johnson led the Big West in scoring (18.0 ppg) to claim Big West Player of the Year and first team all-conference honors.  Junior forward James Nunnally, an All-Big West Second Team pick, ranked ninth in scoring (14.7 ppg) and 11th in rebounding (5.6 rpg) on the league leaderboard.  The Gauchos also feature junior point guard Will Brew facilitating the offense (2.6 apg, 9th in Big West) and junior forward Jaimé Serna anchoring the frontline.  UCSB hopes to benefit from the experience of reaching the 2010 NCAA Tournament, where it lost to Ohio State in the first round.
   
Long Beach State aims to dethrone UCSB in 2010-11.  The 49ers earned 180 points and two first-place votes to claim the runner-up spot in the poll.  Led by four returning starters, the 49ers came within one win of the NCAA Tournament after losing to UCSB in the 2010 Big West Tournament championship game.   The core junior trio of T.J. Robinson, Casper Ware and Larry Anderson have started 150 games between them in their first two seasons and are poised to take the 49ers to the pinnacle of the Big West.  Robinson earned All-Big West First Team plaudits after averaging 15.4 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.  Ware led the Big West in assists (4.8 apg) and steals (2.1 spg) en route to second team all-conference honors.  Anderson ranked among the league leaders in assists and steals while placing third on the team in scoring (11.8 ppg).   
   
Earning 161 points and the remaining first-place vote was Pacific.  The Tigers made a run to the championship game of the 2010 CollegeInsider.com Tournament, finishing 23-12 overall.  Three starters and eight letterwinners return from that team, which also shared the Big West regular season title with UCSB at 12-4 in league play.  Senior Sam Willard ranked second in the conference in rebounding (8.4 rpg).
   
UC Davis reached the semifinals of the Big West Tournament and return all-conference second-team selection Joe Harden.  The Aggies were picked to finish fourth with 126 points.
   
In fifth place was Cal Poly with 96 points.  UC Irvine was right behind in sixth place with 93 tallies.  Cal State Fullerton (81 points), Cal State Northridge (55) and UC Riverside (39) rounded out the media poll.
   
The media panel also selected a six-player preseason all-conference team comprised of five juniors and one senior.  The six honorees included Joe Harden (UC Davis), Eric Wise (UC Irvine), Orlando Johnson and James Nunnally of UC Santa Barbara, and Long Beach State's T.J. Robinson and Casper Ware.  Johnson and Robinson are 2009-10 first team all-conference performers.  Harden, Nunnally, Ware and Wise garnered All-Big West Second Team selections last year.
   
Other notes on the preseason all-conference team:

• Orlando Johnson's 540 points was sixth-most in a single-season at UC Santa Barbara.
• Wise is only 45 points away from reaching the 1,000-point career milestone at UC Irvine.
• Long Beach State's Robinson became the first Big West player since Michael Olowokandi of Pacific (1997-98) to average double figures in rebounds in one season.
• Ware was the first 49er to lead the Big West in assists in 37 years.

Media Poll Results

1.    UC Santa Barbara (20)    204
2.    Long Beach State (2)       180
3.    Pacific (1)                         161
4.    UC Davis                          126
5.    Cal Poly                              96
6.    UC Irvine                            93
7.    Cal State Fullerton             81
8.    Cal State Northridge          55
9.    UC Riverside                     39

( ) First-place votes

Preseason Media All-Conference Team

Name                     School                        Position    Year        Hometown
Joe Harden             UC Davis                    Guard        Senior      Acampo, Calif.
Orlando Johnson    UC Santa Barbara      Guard        Junior      Seaside, Calif.
James Nunnally      UC Santa Barbara      Forward     Junior      Stockton, Calif.
T.J. Robinson          Long Beach State      Forward     Junior      West Haven, Conn.
Casper Ware           Long Beach State      Guard        Junior      Cerritos, Calif.
Eric Wise                 UC Irvine                   Forward     Junior      Riverside, Calif.