Pac-12 Media Poll: Cal Picked to Finish Second in North Division

Cal picks up three first-place votes. Oregon, USC the favorites to win the divisions of the Pac-12 based on votes from 38 members of the media

Cal is picked to finish second in the Pac-12 North Division in a Pac-12 media poll released Wednesday. The Bears even picked up three first-place votes.

Oregon is picked to win the North and win the conference championship game, while USC was the choice of the 38 media members to win the South Division title.

Washington is picked third in the North, followed by Stanford in fourth, Oregon State in fifth and Washington State sixth.

In the South, Arizona State is picked second behind USC, with Utah third, UCLA fourth, Colorado in fifth and Arizona sixth.

The Pac-12 will play a seven-game schedule starting Nov. 7.  The first six games have been scheduled for each team, and those six games will detrmine the division winners and the pairing for the Dec. 18 Pac-12 championship game. The other 10 teams will be scheduled to play a team in the opposite division that same weekend, and those matchups will be determined after the Pac-12 title game teams are set.

Cal finished 8-5 overall and 4-5 in conference play last year. The Bears return starting quarterback Case Garbers, and Cal is one of three Pac-12 teams that returns its primary starting quarterback from last season. The other two are USC (Kedon Slovis) and Arizona State (Jayden Daniels).

The Bears also return their starting running back (Christopher Brown Jr.), most of their wide receivers (Nikko Remigio, Kekoa Crawford, Makai Polk) and most of their offensive line.

The defense loses defensive player of the year Evan Weaver at inside linebacker as well as both starting safeties, Jaylinn Hawkins and Ashtyn Davis, both of whom are now on NFL teams.  But the secondary got a boost when cornerback Camryn Bynum announced this week he is back on the roster after earlier announcing that he was opting out of the season.

The results of the media poll, followed by first-place votes in parantheses and total voting points.

Pac-12 North

--- 1. Oregon (35) 222

--- 2. Cal (3) 176

--- 3. Washington 161

--- 4. Stanford 105

--- 5. Oregon State 76

--- 6. Washington State 58

.

Pac-12 South

--- 1. USC (32) 220

--- 2. Arizona State (2) 181

--- 3. Utah (4) 168

--- 4. UCLA 109

--- 5. Colorado 63

--- 6. Arizona 57

.

PAC-12 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME WINNER: Oregon (21 votes)
Others receiving votes: USC (15), Arizona State (1), Utah (1)

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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