Cal Picked 11th in Preseason Pac-12 Women's Basketball Poll

Utah is the favorite to win the conference title according to the coaches poll

Cal was not picked to finish last in the coaches Pac-12 preseason women's basketball poll released Tuesday.  The Bears were selected to finish 11th, ahead of Arizona State.

Cal finished tied for 10th last season when the Bears went 4-14 in Pac-12 play and 13-17 overall.

The preseason favorite in the Pac-12 is Utah, which finished tied with Stanford for first place last year with a 15-3 record.

The Utes received seven first-place votes and 116 voting points to finish just ahead of UCLA, which received three first-place votes and 109 voting points.

Stanford, which has dominated the conference in recent years, was picked third.

This is the final season of the Pac-12 as we know it.  Cal and Stanford will be in the Atlantic Coast Conference next year.  USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon will be in the Big Ten. Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado with be in the Big 12. Washington State and Oregon State don't know what their conference affiliation will be next year.

Cal begins its fifth season under head coach Charmin Smith, who has yet to have a winning record as the head coach. The Bears went 11-13 overall and 2-10 in the conference in 2021-22, 1-16 and 1-12 in 2020-21 and 12-19 and 3-15 in her first season of 2019-20.

Cal returns point guard Leilani McIntosh and added San Francisco transfer Ioanna Krimili this season.

The Bears open their season Nov. 2 against Westmont.

Here are the coaches poll results

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