Colorado State didn’t have much to say about its selection as the preseason favorite in the Mountain West men’s basketball, but its actions have shown this was no surprise.

The Rams were tabbed to finish first in the conference, garnering 11 of 20 first-place votes in a media poll that was released Wednesday. San Diego State was picked second and Nevada third.

Air Force was picked to finish last in the 11-team league.

Colorado State coach Niko Medved knew this was coming with a roster that includes preseason All-Mountain West picks David Roddy and Isaiah Stevens and he scheduled accordingly. Colorado State is about to embark on slate that includes preseason No. 14 Alabama, a Mississippi State team that received votes in the preseason poll and St. Mary’s and Creighton, both of which finished last year in the top 50 in RPI. Colorado could also be an opponent, depending on the results at a tournament.

“We don’t want to say that we laid up,” said Medved, whose team narrowly missed out on the NCAA Tournament last year and instead mounted a semifinal run in the NIT. They finished 208. “We didn’t want to look back at the end of the year and say we didn’t give ourselves a shot and we didn’t take a chance. So that’s what we did and we’re excited about it.”

As for the top preseason pick in a team that is expected to be as deep as it has in several years, Medved said it was the product of having “the right people on the bus” as he’s built his program over the past three seasons.

“It’s a big honor,” Roddy said. “It’s a real testament of how hard they’ve worked. But we can’t be satisfied.”

Roddy and Stevens were joined on the preseason all-conference team by Fresno State forward Orlando Robinson, UNLV guard Bryce Hamilton and Nevada guard Grant Sherfield, who took preseason player of the year honors.