The finish and the honors

With one set of games to go before the tournament, it's time to take another look at who the WAC media and coaches selected vis-a-vis the 2012-13 team finish and individual honors:

2012-13 Preseason Men's Basketball Media Poll

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

and

2012-13 Preseason Men's Basketball Media All-WAC

 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

Preseason Player of the Year: Preston Medlin, Utah State

+++++

2012-13 Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches Poll

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

2012-13 Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches 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

Preseason Player of the Year: Preston Medlin, Jr., G, Utah State

+++++

So both polls are remarkably similar in team placements minus a couple of flip-flops and certainly no consensus was present that LA TECH would blossom even further. Utah State was obviously hampered by major personnel losses and SJSU missing James Kinney prevented any advancement by the Spartans.

As for the individual honors, the first-teamers are the same. The question right now is who will take Preston Medlin's spot due to his unavailability?

Below is a stream of consciousness on other candidates:

Can Kyle Barone (17.7 points, 10.9 rebounds) snag top performer honors on a sixth place team?

Daniel Mullings (14.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.6 steals) hasn't advanced offensively as expected but his numbers are still solid enough.

Nobody seemed to expect the improvement on display by Bandja Sy (14.6 points, 8.1 rebounds) or the current league-leader in scoring, Joel Wright (18.1 points, 6.4 rebounds).

Even Jarred Shaw's production (14.4 points, 7.9 rebounds) wasn't clear although, granted, a portion of his numbers are due to teammates absences.

Plus, is there a chance that Denver will have nobody on the WAC First Team as Chris Udofia stands at 12.1 points, 2.4 blocks)?

Additionally, what are Spencer Butterfield's (13.5 points, 7.1 rebounds) odds?

There's even a question surrounding Raheem Appleby (12.5 points) landing a First Team honor.

Does Sim Bhullar (11.9 points, 60% shooting, 7.2 rebounds, 2.8 blocks) make it?

Will Texas San Antonio's record hurt the chances of Kannon Burrage (17.1 points, third in the WAC) and Michael Hale III (14.3 points, fourth in the league) in First team voting? Or will they cancel each other out?

It's going to be fascinating.