Utah Picked Second in Pac-12 Media Poll

For the second year in a row, the Utah Utes were picked second in the Pac-12 South in Pac-12 Preseason Media Poll behind just USC, the reigning champs.

North Division South Division

1. Washington (40)......... 249 1. USC (22).................. 225

2. Stanford (1)................. 198 2. Utah (14)................. 209

3. Oregon (1)................... 178 3. Arizona (3)............... 178

4. California..................... 108 4. UCLA (2).................. 116

5. Washington State.......... 98 5. Colorado (1)............... 80

6. Oregon State.................. 45 6. Arizona State.............. 72

PAC-12 TITLE GAME CHAMPION: Washington (37 votes)

Others receiving votes: USC (2), Oregon (1), Stanford (1), UCLA (1)

The 14 first place votes that the Utes received is the most ever for the program in this poll. The fact that five Pac-12 South teams received at least one first place vote shows just how unpredictable this division could be this season. Side note, seriously, who thinks Colorado will win it? The North was a bit more cut and dry with Washington receiving 40 of the 42 possible first place votes. There were actually voters that did not think that Oregon State would finish dead last (if that was the case they would have had 42). Oh, and someone presumably had Washington third in the North...

I think the big takeaway from things like this is just to get a feel for how the media that covers the Pac-12 sees the teams. Predictions are just that, and everyone remembers when Colorado was picked sixth and won the Pac-12 South in 2016. Utah was picked second last year and finished fifth in the South, but this is a nice barometer to get a feeling for the hype around certain teams. It will reflect voting in preseason and early top 25 polls, as many of these Pac-12 media members have a vote in the AP Poll. Overall, I would not read too much into this, but it is nice to know that people covering the Pac-12 expect big things out of Salt Lake City.