For First Time, UNLV Considered Only Second Best : College basketball: New Mexico State becomes first team to usurp No. 1 ranking in the Big West preseason poll since Rebels joined in 1983.

LOS ANGELES — For the first time since Nevada Las Vegas joined the conference in 1983, the Rebels were not picked by the media to win the Big West Conference basketball championship this season.

New Mexico State, which returns three starters from a team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 last season, rated a slight edge over UNLV in the preseason media poll, taken during Wednesday’s conference media day.

The Aggies, who have one of the nation’s top point guards in Sam Crawford, and the Rebels, who have the conference’s best player in J.R. Rider, were rated even atop the coaches’ poll. But New Mexico State garnered six of the 10 first-place votes.

UC Irvine, which upset UC Santa Barbara in the first round of the conference tournament last season and will be boosted by the addition of transfer guard Lloyd Mumford, was rated sixth in the media poll and fifth in the coaches’ poll.

Cal State Fullerton, which returns three starters from last season’s 12-16 team and is under the direction of first-year Coach Brad Holland, was ninth in both polls.

Cal State Long Beach, which is led by returning first-team all-conference guard Lucious Harris and center Chris Tower, a former Westminster High standout, was picked fourth in the media poll and third in the coaches poll.

The UNLV women’s team was picked by coaches to win the conference, followed by Cal State Long Beach and Santa Barbara. UC Irvine was picked seventh and Fullerton eighth.

Big West Notes

Point guard Malloy Nesmith, who averaged 11.4 points and 4.7 assists per game, has not returned for his senior season at Utah State. “He had a hard a time doing what I wanted him to do academically--go to class,” Utah State Coach Kohn Smith said. . . . Nevada center Ric Herrin, a 6-foot-10 senior who some project as an NBA draft pick, has been suspended by Wolf Pack Coach Len Stevens until the end of the fall semester. Herrin, who averaged 14.3 points and 7.8 rebounds last season, probably will rejoin the team at the end of December. . . . Former Villanova Coach Rollie Massimino, who replaced Jerry Tarkanian as UNLV’s coach, when asked how trips to Stockton, Logan, Utah, and Las Cruces, N.M., would compare to Big East Conference stops: “Just find me an Italian restaurant and I’ll be fine.” . . . Projected starters Idris Jones (guard) and Doug Muse (center) of Santa Barbara are expected to miss most of the preseason because of knee injuries. . . . UC Irvine guard Lloyd Mumford, who transferred from Villanova, will play his first game as an Anteater Dec. 1 at Boston University, which is near is hometown of Mattapan, Mass. His first conference game will be Dec. 19 at UNLV against his former coach, Massimino. “It’s going to be hard for him to keep his emotions intact,” Irvine Coach Rod Baker said.

Men’s Media Poll

First-place votes in parentheses Pos. School: Points 1. New Mexico State (30): 529 2. Nevada Las Vegas (24): 524 3. UC Santa Barbara (1): 410 4. Cal State Long Beach: 396 5. Utah State: 314 6. UC Irvine: 265 7. Pacific: 197 8. Nevada: 185 9. Cal State Fullerton: 184 10. San Jose State: 77

Men’s Coaches Poll Pos. School: Points 1. New Mexico State (6): 91 tie Nevada Las Vegas (4): 91 3. Cal State Long Beach: 78 4. UC Santa Barbara: 71 5. UC Irvine: 53 6. Utah State: 50 7. Nevada: 35 tie Pacific: 35 9. Cal State Fullerton: 34 10. San Jose State: 13

Women’s Coaches Poll Pos. School: Points 1. Nevada Las Vegas (6): 92 2. Cal State Long Beach (2): 84 3. UC Santa Barbara (1): 84 4. Hawaii: 80 5. Pacific: 54 6. New Mexico State: 45 7. UC Irvine: 35 8. Cal State Fullerton: 30 9. San Jose State: 29 10. Nevada: 17