Media picks WSU 4th in Pac-12 North, Utah to win championship game

The WSU Cougars have been picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 North by the media who cover the conference, the Pac-12 announced this morning as its media day get underway in Southern California.

As for the top of the conference, the media sees a lot of parity. Utah was a strong pick to win the south, but Oregon barely edged out Washington as the pick to win the north. Utah also was the pick to win the Pac-12 Championship, but the Utes received only 12 votes while the Ducks received 11 and the Huskies received nine.

Perhaps illustrative of the viewpoint, the Cougs received a vote to win the conference championship game for the very first time. The other team to receive conference championship votes was USC, which got two votes, because of course the Trojans did.

Oregon beat out Washington by just a singular point in north in the poll, as each received an identical number of first place votes:

North Division

(first place votes)

1. Oregon Ducks (17) 190

2. Washington Huskies (17) 189

3. Stanford Cardinal 129

4. Washington State Cougars (1) 108

5. California Golden Bears 81

6. Oregon State Beavers 38

For what it’s worth, OSU’s total means that at least one of the 35 voters didn’t pick the Beavers in last place. That’s ... interesting?

South Division

1. Utah Utes (33) 206

2. USC Trojans (2) 167

3. Arizona State Sun Devils and UCLA Bruins 118

5. Arizona Wildcats 85

6. Colorado Buffaloes 46

If history is any indication, you can count on WSU to finish third or better this season. For one thing, the Cougars haven’t finished below third in the north since 2014; for another, here’s how the media’s predictions of the Cougs have stacked up with actual results in that time frame:

• 2015: Picked 5th, finished 3rd
• 2016: Picked 4th, finished 2nd
• 2017: Picked 3rd, finished 3rd
• 2018: Picked 5th, finished t-1st

Your thoughts, Coach?