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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- UCLA
- Arizona State
- Oregon
- Stanford
- Arizona
- USC
- Colorado
- Utah
- Washington
- California
- Washington State
- Oregon State
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 1ST TEAM:
-Timmy Allen – JR, F – Utah
-Matt Bradley – JR, G – California
-Oscar da Silva – SR, F – Stanford
-Chris Duarte – SR, G – Oregon
-Remy Martin – SR, G – Arizona State
-Evan Mobley – FR, F – USC
-Will Richardson – JR, G – Oregon
-Chris Smith – SR, G – UCLA
-Ziaire Williams, – FR, F – Stanford
-McKinley Wright IV – SR, G – Colorado
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 2ND TEAM:
-Isaac Bonton – SR, G – Washington State
-Tyger Campbell – SO, G – UCLA
-Josh Christopher – FR, G – Arizona State
-Ethan Thompson – SR, G – Oregon State
-Alonzo Verge – SR, G – Arizona State
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-UCLA is the preseason favorite to win the league, and I cannot say I disagree too much since they would have been my pick to win the Pac-12 Tournament last year based on how well they were playing at the end of the season. All five starters are back, and they could make quite a bit of noise this year under second-year Coach Mick Cronin. The combination of experience and talent should make the Bruins a top-25 team this year, and perhaps even more than that.
-Like seemingly every year, I am really big on this Oregon team. I know they lost three starters, but Coach Dana Altman always seems to surpass his preseason expectations. The Ducks did lose Payton Pritchard, but they have a lot of newcomers that should be able to step up right away and this should once again be a top-25 team, and perhaps even a protected seed by the time the year is over.
-Arizona State is another team that the media really likes. It seems like the MO for the Sun Devils is to start off huge early in the season, but then taper off as the season progresses. They jumped out to an 8-2 start last year, but then went just 12-9 the rest of the way. They should have a tremendous backcourt with Remy Martin and Alonzo Verge and should easily land in the top half of the bracket, and probably be in the top-25 for most of the season.
-Stanford seems to be a dark horse for a lot of people, which raises the question: if they are everyone’s dark horse, then are they really a dark horse? Four starters are back from a team that won 20 games a year ago and they should have a really strong frontcourt, so there is reason to be optimistic.
-USC is rebuilding, but PG Ethan Anderson is back and they appear to have some pretty good newcomers that could give them a boost. Coach Andy Enfield is another guy that always seems to surpass the preseason expectations.
-Colorado could be a bit of a dark horse this year. Three starters are back, including McKinley Wright IV, and if some of the transfers can step up this year we could see them competing for a spot in the NCAA Tournament come March.
-Utah has four starters back from a team that at moments showed some signs of life, but it is hard to say if they have enough pieces to put them in the NCAA Tournament picture.
-Arizona is dealing with a lot of off-court issues that we will not get into, but they seem to have their share of on-court issues as well. All five starters are gone from a year ago, and it could be a long year both on and off the court for the Wildcats.
-Washington is coming off a somewhat surprisingly miserable season, and could be in for another long season this year.
-If I had to guess, I would say that Cal, Wazzu, and Oregon State are three teams that we will not be seeing in the Pac-12 Quarterfinals this year.