A few months after winning the final Pac-10 title, the Arizona Wildcats were predicted to finish third in the conference this season. The UCLA Bruins were picked to win the conference and the Cal Golden Bears came in second place. Here is a complete list of the predicted standings, with the first place votes coming in parentheses:
1. UCLA 421 (14)
2. California 405 (13)
3. Arizona 404 (11)
4. Washington 355
5. Oregon 282
6. Stanford 255
7. USC 194
8. Oregon State 188
9. Arizona State 148
10. Colorado 119
10. Washington State 119
12. Utah 74
As one can see, it was a very close race at the top. Just a few votes separated the top-four teams and my guess is the actual conference race will be just as close in January, February and March.
In my opinion, this is a four team race, with the Washington Huskies joining the other three teams at the top of the standings. UCLA, Cal, Arizona and Washington all have glaring weaknesses on their roster, though any of them could win the Pac-12 this year. And of course there is always the surprise team that no one sees coming until late in the season.