Oregon and UCLA have been picked to win their respective Pac-12 divisions, and the Ducks are the overall league favorite in voting done by the media at Pac-12 Media Day.
Oregon was picked to win the North, receiving 37 of 39 first-place votes, and UCLA was picked to win the South, also receiving 37 of 39 first-place votes. Stanford, which won the North and the overall league title in each of the past two seasons, was picked to finish second in the North, while USC was picked to finish second in the South.
Oregon got 24 votes as the overall conference winner, with UCLA receiving 13 and Stanford and USC one each.
Oregon is expected to once again have one of the most prolific offenses in the nation, thanks to the presence of junior quarterback Marcus Mariota. Defensively, the Ducks are led by senior cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu.
Washington was picked to finish third in the North, followed by Oregon State, Washington State and California. Defending division champ Arizona State was picked to finish third in the South, followed by Arizona, Utah and Colorado.
Washington and USC are the teams in the league with new coaches. The Huskies now are led by Chris Petersen, who had been at Boise State, while former Washington coach Steve Sarkisian now is in charge of the Trojans.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
