Pac-12 predicted order of finish 2023: USC picked to win in final season before move to Big Ten

The media projects the Trojans to end their Pac-12 membership on a high note

By Dean Straka

Jul 20, 2023 at 4:36 pm ET • 1 min read

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USC has been pegged to win the 2023 Pac-12 championship in its final season of membership before joining the Big Ten, along with UCLA, in July 2024. The Trojans led the way 25 first-place votes and 431 total points in the the Pac-12 preseason media poll, released one day ahead of the conference's media day Friday in Las Vegas.

Washington finished second in the poll behind USC, with two-time defending Pac-12 champion Utah finishing third. The Utes' six first-place votes were the most of any team behind the Trojans. The Huskies received four first-place votes, but more total points in the poll (367) than Utah (359). Oregon, fourth in the poll, was the only other team with a first-place vote.

Among other notables, there is plenty of preseason frenzy in Boulder, Colorado, as Deion Sanders prepares for his first year with the Buffaloes, but the voters were not as kind. Colorado finished at No. 11 in the poll, only ahead of Stanford, which will be under first-year coach Troy Taylor.

For the second consecutive year, the Pac-12 Championship Game, set to be held back in Las Vegas on Dec. 1, will feature the the top two teams in the league standings after the conference did away with divisions.

The conference's full preseason media poll for the 2023 season follows, with first-place votes in parenthesis. Sine the poll's inception, the preseason pick to win the conference has gone on to do so 33 of 62 times. Media members have correctly predicted the champion six of 12 times since the league expanded to 12 teams ahead of the 2011 season, when Colorado and Utah joined the conference.