Buffs Tabbed To Finish Third In Pac-12 Conference

SAN FRANCISCO – The University of Colorado men’s basketball team was picked to finished third in the 2014-15 Pac-12 Conference men’s basketball standings, announced Thursday according to a poll of media members who cover conference.

Arizona was selected to finish at the top spot for the third year in a row, after garnering all but one first-place vote. Utah narrowly claimed No. 2, with just one more point than third-place finisher Colorado. 

Both the Utes and the Buffs return four starters from last season, including first team All-Pac-12 honorees in Utah’s Delon Wright (15.5 ppg/6.8 rpg) and CU’s Josh Scott (14.1 ppg/8.4 rpg).

Last season, CU was also picked third and finished the regular season tying five other teams for third place. The third place conference tally was CU’s highest since finishing the 1997 Big 12 Conference season second overall.

Reigning Pac-12 Tournament champion UCLA is slotted fourth in the poll, followed by Stanford at fifth, after both squads advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2013-14. Washington edged out California by one point to round out the top half of the poll, weighing in at sixth while the Golden Bears come in at seventh.

Oregon is tabbed at eighth, followed by Arizona State at ninth and USC at 10th. Washington State was picked to finish 11th, while Oregon State rounds out the poll at 12th.

Media have correctly picked the Conference winner 13 times in 22 tries. Arizona has correctly been selected in eight of the previous 12 times it has been slated to capture the league crown.

The 2014-15 season gets underway for the Pac-12 with 11 games on Friday, November 14. All but one of those games will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks as part of this year’s Full Court Friday. For more information, including a composite schedule, visit www.pac-12.com.

2014-15 PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL MEDIA POLL
                Team                     Pts.
1.             Arizona (31)         383
2.             Utah                      317
3.             Colorado              316
4.             UCLA (1)               290
5.             Stanford                264
6.             Washington         189
7.             California             188
8.             Oregon                 159
9.             Arizona State       155
10.          USC                       106
11.          Washington State  84
12.          Oregon State          45
First place votes in parentheses

PREVIOUS PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL POLL
Year                       Predicted Winner            Actual Finish      Actual Winner   Predicted Finish
2014-15                 Arizona                                                  -                               -                               -
2013-14                 Arizona                                                  1st                   Arizona                  1st
2012-13                 Arizona                                                  2nd                  UCLA                     2nd
2011-12                 UCLA                                                     5th (tied)        Washington          4th