Utes picked to win MWC

Street & Smith's College Basketball Yearbook has picked Utah to win the 2005-06 Mountain West Conference men's basketball title in its annual issue released today. The magazine also named Ute senior Bryant Markson to its preseason all-Mountain West Conference team.

Utah, under second-year head coach Ray Giacoletti, returns two starters and four other lettermen for the 2005-06 season. Markson, a 6-7, 198-pound forward from Monrovia, Calif., is Utah's top returning scorer (10.4 ppg) and rebounder (3.9 rpg). He earned third team all-conference honors last season. The other returning starter is senior point guard Tim Drisdom. Among the Utes' losses is center Andrew Bogut, who was the consensus 2004-05 national player of the year.

Utah adds redshirt freshman center Luke Nevill and five newcomers to this year's roster. However, Misha Radojevic, a junior transfer post player from Serbia, has already been lost for the season due to a torn ACL.

The Runnin' Utes went 29-6 last year, winning the Mountain West Conference regular season championship with a 13-1 record and advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Street & Smith's College Basketball Yearbook is highlighted by its preseason Top 25 and Street & Smith's All-America teams. Along with in-depth Division I previews, the magazine includes schedules for all 317 teams and rosters for 156 teams. In addition, the yearbook has previews for Division II, III and the NAIA, with top 10 rankings and All-America teams.