Picking a preseason team to win the men's basketball championship in the Presidents' Athletic Conference has been a no-brainer the past couple seasons. Just pencil in Bethany's name, wait a couple months and then say, "I told you so."

	The picks Predicted order of finish for the Presidents' Athletic Conference in 2006-07 as voted by the coaches, sports information directors and media. (First-place votes) Team Points 1. Waynesburg (8) 171 2. Wash. & Jeff. (12) 160 3. Bethany (5) 145 4. Westminster (3) 132 5. Grove City 83 6. Thiel 62 7. Thomas More 47

But the task was a brain-teaser for the coaches, media and sports information directors who tried to come up with a favorite at a gathering in the Igloo Club at Mellon Arena yesterday.

Would it be the veteran Waynesburg Yellow Jackets with four returning starters? Or maybe Washington & Jefferson, which hasn't had a winning record in a decade? Or how about the run-and-gun, no-defense Westminster Titans?

One thing was certain. It wasn't going to be the two-time champion Bethany Bison, who lost their twin-power of Matt and Mike Drahos after they led them to a 23-5 record, including 12-0 in the league. Bethany lost in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament.

When the ballots were tabulated, W&J had the most first-place votes with 12 and a total of 160 points, but Waynesburg earned the top spot with eight first-places and 171 points. Washington & Jefferson was second followed by Bethany and Westminster.

Waynesburg returns four starters from a 16-11 team, led by second-team selections 6-1 Jeff Nero (14.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and 6-0 Beau Wilson (17.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg). Coach Frank Ferraro's Yellow Jackets are seeking their first conference championship since 1996.

W&J is optimistic it can post its first winning record since 1998. New coach Glenn Gutierrez, the director of basketball operations at Duquesne University last year, will build the Presidents around senior guard Jon Koch (19.5 ppg), the only first-team returnee, and second-team sophomore center Josip Lucic-Jozak (12.8 ppg, 7.3 ppg). Koch has 1,328 points and needs 326 to become the school's all-time scoring leader.

Koch and 3-point specialist Brandon Struder (12.6 ppg) give W&J a dynamic backcourt.

"The biggest thing is trying to get me to know the players and the players to know me," Gutierrez said. "We're trying to find our identity as a team."

The team with the most identifiable style is Westminster, which averaged 102.0 points and allowed 105.1 per game. The Titans have never met a 3-pointer they didn't like, but they let opponents make 56.5 percent of their shots from the field and were outrebounded by 11.5 per game.

Craig Hannon, a 6-foot-3 junior guard who was second-team All-PAC, is the highest-returning scorer in the league with a 19.9 average. The Titans will be strengthened by the return of senior forward Dom Joseph, a two-year starter who sat out last season for medical reasons.

"We've got everyone returning, and it seems like a lot of other teams in the league have everyone leaving," coach Larry Ondako said. "We are not in a stage of transition. We've got as good a chance as any team to win the conference."