The Pac-12 preseason media poll has been released ahead of Friday’s Pac-12 Media Day in Los Angeles. Utah has been selected to repeat as champions in the conference after picking up 26 of the 33 possible first-place votes. Oregon received two of the first place votes and edged out USC, which gained five first-place votes, by just four points to secure the second spot in the preseason poll.
UCLA, Oregon State and Washington round out the top six while Washington State, Stanford, Cal, Arizona State, Arizona and Colorado make up the second half of the preseason poll.
Voters were asked to rank teams regardless of divisions in this year’s poll after the conference previously made the decision to do away with separating the teams into the North and South. Instead, the two top teams will meet up for the Pac-12 Championship at the end of the season.
Outside of just four points separating Oregon and USC, the next closest race was between Bay Area foes Stanford and Cal. The Cardinal edged out the Bears by just five points to secure the eighth spot in the preseason projection.
Should both Oregon and Utah finish as the two top teams this season, it would mean a rematch of the 2021 Pac-12 Championship that was ultimately won by the Utes, 38-10.
The Buffaloes finished the 2021 season with a 4-8 record, which was good enough for a tie with USC for fourth in the South Division. CU also finished with as many wins as Washington plus more wins than both Stanford and Arizona.
Still, Karl Dorrell's squad lost multiple key contributors including defensive backs Christian Gonzalez (Oregon) and Mekhi Blackmon (USC), who both earned second-team all-conference honors this week. Receiver Brenden Rice transferred to USC and picked up an honorable mention nod.
The Buffs open up the season on Sept. 2 at Folsom Field against TCU with kickoff set for 8 p.m. MT.
Pac-12 Media Day from The Novo theater in Los Angeles will begin at 8 a.m. PT with Colorado's press conference slated to begin at 11:25 a.m. MT.
Pac-12 preseason media poll
(first-place votes)
1. Utah (26) - 384 points
2. Oregon (2) - 345
3. USC (5) - 341
4. UCLA - 289
5. Oregon State - 246
6. Washington - 212
7. Washington State - 177
8. Stanford - 159
9. Cal - 154
10. Arizona State - 123
11. Arizona - 86
12. Colorado - 58
