2016 Pac-12 preseason poll: Stanford picked to repeat, Washington gets love
Pac-12 media believe that Stanford will win the conference for the fourth time in five years.
Stanford has won the Pac-12 three times in the last four seasons, and according to voters in the Pac-12's preseason media poll, 2016 will become the fourth time in five.
With Pac-12 Media Days beginning on Thursday, the conference released its preseason media poll, headlined by the Cardinal picked to win the conference. The most popular Pac-12 Championship Game matchup was Stanford going against UCLA.
Here's how the poll breaks down:
Pac-12 North
1. Stanford (24 1st place votes)
2. Washington (8)
3. Oregon (1)
4. Washington State
5. California
6. Oregon State
Pac-12 South
1. UCLA (19)
2. USC (12)
3. Utah (2)
4. Arizona
5. Arizona State
6. Colorado
Of the 33 votes for Pac-12 champion, Stanford received 20. USC (5), Washington (4), UCLA (3) and Utah (1) were the other schools to be chosen as overall league champion.
As for the results of the poll, there aren't many major surprises. The amount of teams receiving votes for first place in their division, as well as to win the conference, is a reflection of what we know about the Pac-12 going into 2016: not much. Things are wide-open, and it isn't clear that there's a real power threat in the conference.
The biggest surprise is that Oregon not only finished third in the North but received only one first-place vote compared to Washington's eight. The Huskies are definitely a preseason media darling this year, and while I understand why, I happen to be of the opinion that a lot of people are crowning the Huskies a year too early.
















