CORVALLIS, Ore. - Fresh off their second-straight trip to the NAIA Division II national semifinals, the College of Idaho was picked second in the annual Cascade Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll, released by the league office.
The Yotes, coming of a record-setting 31-6 season, received two first-place votes and 111 voter points from the 11 league coaches - the first time since the 2013-14 season that C of I was not the odds-on favorite in the tabulation. The 2019 CCC Tournament champions return three starters, including first-team All-American,
Talon Pinckney, along with two-time All-CCC pick,
Nate Bruneel.
Oregon Tech earned the favorite roll with eight first-place votes and 118 voter points, as the Owls return all five starters from a 28-8 team that advanced to the NAIA title game last season. CCC Player of the Year, Mitchell Fink, anchors a veteran squad that won the CCC regular-season title in 2018-19.
Southern Oregon (88 points), Corban (81 points) and Eastern Oregon (75 points) round out the top five.
C of I opens the season in two weeks at the Montana Tech Tip-Off Classic, meeting Montana Western on Oct. 25 in Butte.
Team (First-place Votes)                Points         2018-19 CCC             2018-19 Overall
1. Oregon Tech (8)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 118Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 15-3Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 28-8
2. College of Idaho (2)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 111Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 14-4Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 31-6
3. Southern Oregon University          88                      9-9                               21-11
4. Corban University                            81                     11-7                               21-9
5. Eastern Oregon University (1)Â Â Â Â Â Â 75Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 10-8Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 15-15
6. Warner Pacific University               64                     7-11                              16-14
7. Northwest Christian University     56                     11-7                               31-6
8. Northwest University                       51                     6-12                              15-17
9. Multnomah University                     42                     6-12                              15-15
10. The Evergreen State College     27                     1-17                               5-21
11. Walla Walla University                 13                     0-0                  0-0
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