BB: Huskies, Dinos top pre-season polls
Saskatchewan is the women's pick, while Calgary is the men's favourite
EDMONTON – The Saskatchewan Huskies and Calgary Dinos are the top Canada West women’s and men’s basketball teams respectively, according to conference coaches heading into the 2018-19 season.
Highlights:
- Saskatchewan (women's) and Calgary (men's) are the conference favourites heading into the 2018-19 season after topping the annual pre-season coaches poll
- The CW regular season opens this week, with Friday, Oct. 26 the first full night of action
- The defending CW champion Regina Cougars finished second in the women's poll, while the UBC Thunderbirds slotted in second in the men's
The annual pre-season coaches polls were unveiled Wednesday, as the conference prepares to open regular season play this week. All 17 women's and men's coaches vote annually in the pre-season poll.
Saskatchewan (255 pts.) – who lost last year’s CW championship game to the Regina Cougars – are the favourites on the women’s side, while the defending CW and U SPORTS champion Calgary Dinos (254 pts.) are the men’s frontrunners.
In both polls, a pair of teams distanced themselves from the pack, as Regina (240 pts.) finished second in the women’s poll and joined Saskatchewan in the lead group. In the men's poll, the UBC Thunderbirds (241 pts.) were second, sitting 24 points clear of the third-place Alberta Golden Bears (217 pts.)
Saskatchewan (15) and Regina (2) were the lone teams to pick up first-place votes in the women’s poll. In the men’s vote, Calgary (15), UBC (1), and last year’s conference silver medalists from Alberta (1), earned first-place nods.
A complete look at the poll results can be found below, while full previews of the conference’s 17 women's and men's teams will be available Thursday morning on CanadaWest.org.
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2018-19 CANADA WEST WBB PRE-SEASON COACHES POLL
TEAM / POINTS (FIRST-PLACE VOTES)
- Saskatchewan Huskies / 255 (15)
- Regina Cougars / 240 (2)
- Calgary Dinos / 215
- UBC Thunderbirds / 205
- UNBC Timberwolves / 179
- Alberta Pandas / 178
- Victoria Vikes / 161
- Trinity Western Spartans / 160
- Lethbridge Pronghorns / 157
- Winnipeg Wesmen / 120
- Manitoba Bisons / 107
- Fraser Valley Cascades / 98
- Thompson Rivers WolfPack / 72
- Brandon Bobcats / 58
- Mount Royal Cougars / 45
- MacEwan Griffins / 41
- UBCO Heat / 21
2018-19 CANADA WEST MBB PRE-SEASON COACHES POLL
TEAM / POINTS (FIRST-PLACE VOTES)
- Calgary Dinos / 254 (15)
- UBC Thunderbirds / 241 (1)
- Alberta Golden Bears / 217 (1)
- Lethbridge Pronghorns / 196
- Saskatchewan Huskies / 178*
- Victoria Vikes / 178
- Manitoba Bisons / 166
- Regina Cougars / 150
- Thompson Rivers WolfPack / 130
- UNBC Timberwolves / 114
- Winnipeg Wesmen / 108
- Brandon Bobcats / 106
- Fraser Valley Cascades / 105
- Mount Royal Cougars / 69
- MacEwan Griffins / 41
- Trinity Western Spartans / 40
- UBCO Heat / 19
NOTES: Coaches rank all conference teams excluding their own. First-place vote worth 16 pts., second-place 15 pts. Saskatchewan earned higher men's ranking based on the greater number of higher votes.