No. 12 Oregon preseason favorite to win Pac-12 title

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — No. 12 Oregon has been picked by the media as the preseason favorite to win the Pac-12 championship when the conference resumes its season.

The Ducks received 21 votes to capture a title game that’s slated to be played Dec. 18. Others receiving votes to win the crown in a poll released Wednesday include USC with 15, along with Arizona State and Utah with one apiece.

The media has successfully selected the conference champion in 31 of the last 59 polls.

Oregon also picked up 35 of the 38 first-place votes to repeat as the Pac-12 North division champion, followed by California with three. The rest of the predicted order of finish went Washington, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State.

On the Pac-12 South side, USC earned 32 first-place votes. The Trojans were followed by Arizona State, Utah, UCLA, Colorado and Arizona.

The league voted last month to resume the season after postponing it due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The seven-game, conference-only schedule will begin Nov. 7.