Colorado State was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West men’s basketball preseason poll released by the conference on Wednesday. Defending regular season and tournament champion Nevada has been tabbed to repeat after receiving 19 of 24 first-place votes by the media.

San Diego State is second in the predicted order of finish, followed by Boise State, Fresno State, CSU, UNLV, Wyoming, Utah State, New Mexico, San Jose State and Air Force.

The Rams return three starters, Prentiss Nixon, J.D. Paige and Nico Carvacho, from last year’s team that went 24-12, finished second in the regular season and fell to Nevada in the conference tournament title game before making it to the second round of the NIT. But they have to replace a combined 34.0 points and 16.7 rebounds a game with the departure of all-conference performers Gian Clavell (the MW player of the year) and Emmanuel Omogbo.

Along with the graduation of Clavell and Omogbo, the Rams also lost Devocio Butler, Kimani Jackson, Braden Koelliker and Kevin Little to transfer as well as junior college transfer Zo Tyson to a season-ending injury. Coach Larry Eustachy’s team adds five newcomers to the fold: junior college transfers Raquan Mitchell and Deion James, Division I transfers now eligible after sitting out last season Robbie Berwick and Lorenzo Jenkins and freshman Logan Ryan.

“I like this group. They seem very coachable. They seem very together,” Eustachy said as his team opened practice for he season last Friday. “We have a horrendous schedule, but it’ll be good for us.”

Nixon, who averaged 17.5 points over the final seven games last season, is one of the top returners in the conference but was not among those selected to the preseason all-conference team. That group includes Nevada’s Jordan Caroline, San Diego State’s Trey Kell, Utah State’s Koby McEwen, Wyoming’s Justin James and Boise State’s Chandler Hutchison, the preseason MW player of the year.

UNLV forward Brandon McCoy, a top 20 recruit nationally, was tabbed as the preseason freshman of the year while Nevada’s Caleb Martin, who sat out last year after transferring from North Carolina State, was named the newcomer of the year.

CSU hosts Colorado Mesa for an exhibition on Friday, Nov. 3 before opening the season a week later against Sacramento State.

Sean Star: sstar@reporter-herald.com or twitter.com/seanvstar