Courtesy of the Pac-10 Conference
PASADENA, Calif. - Defending Pac-10 champion OREGON narrowly edges out USC as the choice to win the 2010 Pac-10 Conference football title in a preseason poll of West Coast media members who regularly cover the league. The Ducks were listed in the top spot by 15 of the 35 voters participating in the poll and are picked to win the league for the just the second time (also in 2001).
Oregon finished 8-1 in Conference play to win the league by two full games last season and earned its first appearance in the Rose Bowl since 1994. USC picked up 12 first-place votes and fell just three points behind the Ducks, equalling the second-closest voting since the preseason poll began in 1961.
OREGON STATE was tabbed to finish third in the poll, followed by STANFORD, ARIZONA and WASHINGTON. A record seven teams received at least one first-place vote in the balloting.
The media poll has correctly selected the Conference Champion in 26 of 49 previous polls, including nine of the last 10. Following are the results of the preseason media poll (points 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses):
1. Oregon (15) ...................314
2. USC (12) .......................311
3. Oregon State (3) ............262
4. Stanford (1) ...................233
5. Arizona (2) ....................222
6. Washington (1) ..............209
7. California .......................175
8. UCLA (1) .......................134
9. Arizona State ...................81
10. Washington State .............39
POLL NOTES: Preseason media poll has correctly picked the Conference champion 26 of 49 times and has been very accurate of late in correctly identifying the Conference champion in nine of the last 10 years … Oregon snapped USC’s hold on the top spot after the Trojans were the media’s pick to win the league each of the last seven years … The threepoint edge Oregon has over USC in the 2010 poll equals the second-closest poll ever. USC was picked by two points to edge UCLA for the championship in 1989. Other three-point margins included UCLA over Arizona State in 1998, and Washington over USC in 2000. In all three instances, the team picked to win the league did, indeed, go on to claim the title … The diverse voting of the pollsters had Arizona, Oregon and Stanford each receiving first-place votes and picked to finish as low as ninth.