Preseason poll has Lobos eighth; Pitino didn’t know and doesn’t care

First-year UNM Lobo men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino instructs players during a drill at a recent basketball practice. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)Richard Pitino apparently didn’t get the memo.

It’s OK. It wasn’t one he exactly cared much about, anyway.

The Mountain West Conference men’s basketball preseason media poll was released on Wednesday morning, slotting his New Mexico Lobos in a tie for eighth place with Wyoming in the 11-team league, as voted on by a select panel of media covering the league.

Several hours later on a Zoom video media call, when the first-year Lobos coach was asked whether the team’s predicted order of finish would serve as motivation, he seemed somewhat…