Cardinal Picked Third

STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford has been tabbed third in the annual Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll, it was announced by the Conference on Wednesday.

The Cardinal received 106 total points, including two first-place votes, to finish behind defending Pac-12 Champion UCLA (116 points) and USC (110 points). The Bruins received seven first-place votes, while the Trojans claimed the final three first-place bids.

Washington (85 points) and Washington State (71 points) rounded out the top five.

California (68 points) was picked sixth, followed by Arizona State (63 points), Colorado (56 points), Oregon (40 points), Arizona (31 points), Utah (30 points) and Oregon State (16 points).

The league's top four are the Pac-12 programs to appear in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25 released one week ago. UCLA checks in at No. 5 nationally, USC at No. 14, Washington at No. 19 and Stanford at No. 24. The Sun Devils, Cougars and Buffaloes are also among those receiving votes in the national preseason rankings.

Stanford, the 2019 National Champion, is coming off a 6-6-2 2020 campaign that was moved to the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The Cardinal missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in head coach Paul Ratcliffe's 18-year career on The Farm while also snapping a string of 22 consecutive postseason appearances for the program.

Stanford will open the 2021 season on Thursday, August 19 when it travels to Cal Poly for a 7 p.m. kickoff.