Just a couple of seasons removed from claiming a piece of the Mountain West Conference regular-season championship and going to the NCAA Tournament, the BYU men's basketball team was picked to finish ninth in this year's preseason media poll.

That would be last place.

Then again, the Cougars finished in a last-place tie with Colorado State last season with a 3-11 league record and a 9-21 mark overall.

BYU guard Austin Ainge scoffed when he was told where his team was projected to end up. "If I gave it any credibility, I might use it as motivation. It's pretty bogus," he said. "We won't finish last, that's for sure."

First-year coach Dave Rose said the poll results didn't necessarily surprise him.

"In our situation, we have returning players who haven't proven to be successful in this league, and we have a new coach," he said. "They're not familiar with us and what we're going to do. I'll tell our team where the media picked them. But as far as motivation, we have a lot of things that will motivate us a lot more than where the media picks us. Our returning players have a lot to prove, and the new players are excited to get started. They've worked hard to prepare to have a successful year, and that's what we're going to try and have."

MWC coaches say Rose will have BYU competing for championships again soon.

"They went through a rebuilding period. Everyone reaches a point where you have to suddenly reload and get refocused and go back to winning," said Wyoming coach Steve McClain. "There's no question in my mind that Dave Rose will have that program going again. He's going to get it back. If ever there's a year where you don't care if you're picked ninth, it's this year, because everybody has a chance to win it. I don't think they'll finish at the bottom. Dave Rose will do a great job at BYU."

"They're a sleeper. They're a dark horse in this league," New Mexico coach Ritchie McKay said of BYU. "Ainge is a really good guard. I like (Jimmy) Balderson a ton. I think (freshman) Lee Cummard is an excellent player and has a chance to be the newcomer of the year. They have depth in the post. You'd be foolish not to consider them and prepare for them appropriately."

Ainge, one of four Cougars with starting experience, along with Balderson, Keena Young and Derek Dawes, is optimistic about the way this season will go.

"We have plenty of talent, and we've been working very hard. It depends how well we learn the new system and sneak by in the close games," Ainge said. "We couldn't seem to get the close games last year. This year hopefully will be different. We're more athletic than last year. That will help because coach Rose wants to push the ball and run."

Rose knows the expectation around BYU is to turn the program around immediately.

"What I really tried to do in the offseason was get the players back in the mind-set of postseason play and conference championships," Rose said. "We went to postseason five years in a row, then had a disappointing season last year. We have to make sure our confidence level and expectation level is of postseason play and a conference championship."

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E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com