Fresno State Picked to Win Big West

Big West Conference football coaches have selected Fresno State to win the conference championship.

Coaches in the newly renamed conference, formerly the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn., also predicted in their annual preseason poll that San Jose State--winner of two consecutive conference championships and the No. 1 pick in last season’s poll--would finish fourth.

Cal State Fullerton, which finished the 1987 season 6-6 and in a four-way tie for second place, was chosen to finish third in both the coaches’ poll and a poll by media representatives.

Utah State, which was picked by the coaches to finish seventh last year but won five of its final six games, was picked to finish second in the conference.

Fresno State, which finished 6-5 last season and won the conference in 1985, returns 10 starters from last season’s team. The Bulldogs will be led by all-conference linebacker Tracy Rogers on defense and tailback Kelly Skipper on offense.

MEDIA POLL First-place votes in parentheses

Rank School Pts. 1. Fresno State 400 (24) 2. Utah State 397 (22) 3. Cal State Fullerton 315 (5) 4. San Jose State 294 (2) 5. UNLV 207 (2) 6. Pacific 201 (2) 7. Long Beach 170 8. New Mexico State 68

COACHES’ POLLFirst-place votes in parentheses

Rank School Pts. 1. Fresno State 55 (4) 2. Utah State 52 (2) 3. Cal State Fullerton 49 (1) 4. San Jose State 44 5. Pacific 29 (1) 6. UNLV 27 7. Long Beach 21 8. New Mexico State 11