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Inside The Huskies

Ho Hum, Trojans Earn Pac-12 Media Title Pick

USC picked as preseason conference favorite by a wide margin.
Dan Raley|
Ho Hum, Trojans Earn Pac-12 Media Title Pick
Ho Hum, Trojans Earn Pac-12 Media Title Pick

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Washington Huskies

When picking a preseason favorite, whatever are Pac-12 media voters going to do next year — when USC is in the Big Ten?

Write-in votes?

The Trojans, almost like clockwork, drew a majority of the first-place balloting from selected writers and media orgs once more and were tabbed as the team to beat in the conference race.

USC always gets voted first. Even when it isn't very good, it draws the preseason vote. This year is no different in the high regard for the Men of Troy.

In this case, Lincoln Riley's team pulled 25 of 36 first-place votes and finished with 413 points, 46 points higher than the closest team, Washington, and 54 more than defending league champion Utah, with Oregon 69 points back.

USC very well might be the best team in the conference this year, with returning Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams running the show, but the automatic nature of just picking the Trojans because they're the Trojans gets kind of old.

While Washington probably is listed right where it belongs, defending champion Utah, with its quarterback Cam Rising and a lot of proven defensive players returning, probably wonders what it's got to do to convince everyone it plays at a championship level.

Maybe next year.

The point is this: there probably isn't a whole lot of difference between the top four teams, or even top five with a rejuvenated Oregon State in the mix, yet USC still reaps all of the attention.

Consider it a going-away gift.

THE PAC-12 MEDIA POLL

1) USC, 413 points (25 first-place votes)

2) Washington 367 (4)

3) Utah, 359 (6)

4) Oregon, 344 (1) 

5) Oregon State, 309

6) UCLA, 248

7) Washington State, 186

8) Arizona, 176

9) California, 132

10) Arizona State, 122

11) Colorado, 98

12) Stanford, 54

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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