LOS ANGELES — As expected, the media picked Washington to win the Pac-12 in the league’s annual preseason poll.
Forty of 42 voters selected Washington to win the North division; 37 picked the Huskies to win the Pac-12 championship game.
The media picked USC to win the South division, but it was far from a consensus. USC received 22 first-place votes. Utah, picked to finish second, got 14 votes. Arizona, picked to finish third, got three votes.
The Wildcats’ spot in the media poll is indicative of the elevated expectations surrounding the program entering the 2018 season. A year ago, Arizona was picked to finish last in the South and had the lowest point total in either division.
Arizona State was picked to finish last in the South and was the only school in that division not to receive a first-place vote.
The media have accurately predicted the winner of the Pac-12 in only three of the past 11 seasons.
Here are the results of the poll. Teams picked to finish first in their division received six points, second five points, etc. First-place votes are in parentheses.
NORTH DIVISION
1 Washington (40) ........... 249
2 Stanford (1) ................. 198
3 Oregon (1) ................... 178
4 Cal ………....................... 108
5 Washington State ........... 98
6 Oregon State .................. 45
SOUTH DIVISION
1. USC (22) ..................... 225
2. Utah (14) .................... 209
3. Arizona (3) ................ 178
4. UCLA (2) ..................... 116
5. Colorado (1) .................. 80
6. Arizona State .................. 72
PAC-12 TITLE-GAME CHAMPION: Washington (37 votes)
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: USC (2), Oregon (1), Stanford (1), UCLA (1)
