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Pac-12 coaches project Oregon to win the league

By Kim Doss

PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 31: Oregon Ducks head coach Kelly Graves reacts with Oregon Ducks forward Ruthy Hebard (24) after the NCAA Division I Women's Championship Elite Eight round basketball game between the Oregon Ducks and Mississippi State Bulldogs on March 31, 2019 at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 31: Oregon Ducks head coach Kelly Graves reacts with Oregon Ducks forward Ruthy Hebard (24) after the NCAA Division I Women's Championship Elite Eight round basketball game between the Oregon Ducks and Mississippi State Bulldogs on March 31, 2019 at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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After two straight regular-season titles and a Final Four under, the Oregon Ducks are expected to keep flying.

With Pac-12 Media Day getting underway in San Francisco today, the conference released the preseason coaches poll. As expected, the coaches tapped the Oregon Ducks as presumptive champions. Oregon has won the last two regular-season titles.

Last week, Michelle Smith placed four Pac-12 teams in her preseason top 10. The coaches agreed with her, placing the same four teams in their conference top four.

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The Ducks were followed by last year’s conference tournament champion, the Stanford Cardinal. Since coaches cannot vote for their own teams, the lone vote the Cardinal received for first place undoubtedly came from Oregon coach Kelly Graves.

Behind the two champions from 2018-19 were Oregon State, UCLA, Arizona State, Arizona, Utah, USC, Washington, Washington State, California, and Colorado.

Apart from the top three, there was considerable shuffling compared to last year’s preseason poll. The coaches expect improvement from UCLA, Arizona, and Washington.

While UCLA only moved up two spots in the poll over last season, the Bruins were just six points behind Oregon State for third place in the conference. Last year, the prevailing wisdom was that three Pac-12 teams had a shot at the Final Four. This year, UCLA may join that party.

Arizona received the most optimism relative to past performance. The coaches moved last year’s WNIT champions up four spots compared to last year’s poll and two spots compared to the regular-season standings. If that optimism proves warranted, It would mark the first time the Wildcats finished in the top half of the conference since 2011.

On the other side, California and Colorado plummeted. The Golden Bears were ranked fourth in the 2018-19 poll and went to the NCAA Tournament, but the loss of Kristine Anigwe and a new head coach landed them in 11th this year. Kennedy Leonard’s graduation has the Buffaloes projected as a last-place team.

Oregon will get started trying to prove the coaches right on Monday, Nov. 11 against Northeastern.

Conference play will begin on Friday, Dec. 29 with rivalry games featuring Arizona at Arizona State, UCLA against USC, Utah vs. Colorado. All conference games will be televised for the first time this season by either ESPN or the Pac-12 Networks.

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