WHITEFISH — The Rocky Mountain College men and Carroll College women top the Frontier Conference basketball polls, which were released Thursday.
Rocky totaled three first-place votes and 33 points to edge Lewis-Clark State, which also received three first-place votes, for the top spot in the men’s poll. L-C State registered 30 points, one point ahead of third-place Carroll College. The Saints, who will be led by first-year coach Kurt Paulson, earned the other first-place vote after winning the conference regular-season and tournament championships last season.
Providence is fourth in the rankings, followed by Montana State-Northern, Montana Tech and Montana Western. Steve Keller left Western to take over the Providence program in the offseason.
Rocky Mountain College junior Jared Samuelson was named the conference’s preseason player of the year on Wednesday.
On the women’s side, Carroll College, which won the Frontier Conference regular-season and tournament championships last season, received four first-place votes and 34.5 points. Montana Western, which boasts preseason player of the year Brianna King, earned two first-place votes and finished with 32.5 points to rank second in the poll. The seventh first-place vote was split between Carroll and Western.
Providence, Rocky Mountain College and Lewis-Clark State are ranked third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Those three teams were separated by just two points, with Providence receiving 22 points, Rocky 21 and L-C State 20. MSU-Northern and Montana Tech are picked to finish sixth and seventh, respectively.
Votes were six points for a first-place vote, five points for second, four points for third, three points for fourth, two points for fifth and one point for sixth. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.
Frontier Conference men’s basketball preseason poll
First-place votes in parentheses, total points at right
Rocky Mountain College (3) — 33
Lewis-Clark State (3) — 30
Carroll College (1) — 29
Providence — 18
MSU-Northern — 17
Montana Tech — 14
Montana Western — 6
Frontier Conference women’s basketball preseason poll
First-place votes in parentheses, total points at right
Carroll College (4) — 34.5
Montana Western (2) — 32.5
Providence — 22
Rocky Mountain College — 21
Lewis-Clark State — 20
MSU-Northern — 11
Montana Tech — 6
