University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA Selected Third in Pac-12 Preseason Media Poll
October 21, 2016 | Men's Basketball
SAN FRANCISCO โ The UCLA men's basketball team has been chosen third in the Pac-12 Conference's preseason media poll, as announced at Pac-12 media day on Friday.
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Oregon was selected first in the preseason poll, receiving 23 of 27 possible first-place votes. Arizona was picked to finish second, securing four first-place votes. UCLA was picked third, followed by California, Colorado and Washington, respectively.
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Rounding out the remaining Pac-12 schools were USC, Utah, Oregon State, Stanford, Arizona State and Washington State, respectively.
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Media have correctly picked the Pac-12 winner in 14 of 24 previous tries, while the winner has been accurately chosen in 16 of the 27 all-time preseason votes.
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Coming off a historic 2015-16 in which a league record seven teams earned NCAA Tournament bids and nine teams finish in the RPI top 100, the Pac-12 enters the 2016-17 season with three teams โ No. 5 Oregon, No. 11 Arizona and No. 20 UCLA โ in the USA Today Coaches preseason top 25 poll, as well as a total of eight teams receiving votes in the poll.
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The 2015-16 season gets underway for the Pac-12 with 10 games on Friday, Nov. 11. Eight of those contests will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks as part of this year's Full Court Friday, while Arizona will battle Michigan State in the Armed Forces Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. In addition, Stanford will meet Harvard in the 2016 Pac-12 China Game in Shanghai, China.
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UCLA opens its regular-season schedule against Pacific in Pauley Pavilion on Friday, Nov. 11. Game time is 6 p.m. (PT).
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The Bruins, who return four of their five starters from last season's team, will host an exhibition game against The Master's University in Pauley Pavilion on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
2016-17 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
| Rank | Team | Votes |
| 1. | Oregon (23) | 320 |
| 2. | Arizona (4) | 298 |
| 3. | UCLA | 259 |
| 4. | California | 209 |
| 5. | Colorado | 199 |
| 6. | Washington | 167 |
| 7. | USC | 163 |
| 8. | Utah | 142 |
| 9. | Oregon State | 122 |
| 10. | Stanford | 119 |
| 11. | Arizona State | 78 |
| 12. | Washington State | 30 |
