The Southwestern Athletic Conference announced its men's basketball preseason teams and predicted order of finish Wednesday. League coaches have Prairie View A&M standing as the preseason favorite to win the SWAC crown, while defending regular season and tournament champion Mississippi Valley is predicted to have a long rebuilding year in the cellar.

PVAM had 81 points with four first place votes. Southern was a distant second with 69 points, followed closely by Jackson State (65) and Texas Southern (64). Alabama A&M was picked fifth (51), with Alabama State nipping at their heels in sixth place with 50 points. Arkansas-Pine Bluff was in seventh place (45), with Alcorn State (42), Grambling (18) and Mississippi Valley (12) rounding out the voting.

Along with team predictions, the preseason All-SWAC teams were announced along with the projected top players. Alabama A&M junior forward Demarquelle Tabb was named preseason Defensive Player of the Year, while Texas Southern guard Omar Strong was named preseason Player of the Year by SWAC men's basketball coaches.

Tabb was the Bulldogs' second leading scorer in 2011-12 averaging 10.6 points per game. He led the team in rebounding and blocked shots, averaging 7.6 boards and swatting away 50 shots. Tabb was also ranked 13th in the SWAC in scoring, second in rebounds and third in blocks.

Strong led the SWAC in 3-point shooting and was fourth in the SWAC in scoring, averaging 13.3 points per contest. He was deadly from beyond the arc, burying 102 shots, hitting 38.9 percent from the field.

Defensive Player of the Year
Demarquelle Tabb (AAMU)

Player of the Year
Omar Strong (TSU)

First Team

Guards
Omar Strong (TSU)
Kelsey Howard (JSU)
Forwards
Fred Sturdivant (TSU)
Demarquelle Tabb (AAMU)
Center
Daniel Broughton (UAPB)

Second Team
Guards
Derick Beltran (Southern)
Mitchell Anderson (Arkansas-Pine Bluff)
Forwards
Ian Francis (Alcorn State)
Derrell Taylor (Jackson State)
Center
P.J. Roberson (Grambling)