Arizona Wildcats picked to finish second in Pac-12 by conference media

The Arizona Wildcats’ run of being the preseason favorite to win the Pac-12 has come to an end, though there are still high expectations for Sean Miller’s team.

The Pac-12 media poll was released Friday, and it has the Wildcats second behind Oregon. Arizona, which finished tied for third in the conference last season, received the four first-place votes that the Ducks did not.

Arizona had been picked to win the conference 15 times in the poll’s 28-year history and in each of the previous four seasons. The Wildcats went on to win the conference in 2013-14 and 2014-15 before slipping last season, finishing tied for third in the Pac-12 with a 12-6 conference record. Arizona finished 25-9 overall and was bounced by Wichita State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but have reloaded for this upcoming season.

Though the Wildcats lost their top two scorers from last season in Ryan Anderson and Gabe York, they return sophomore guard Allonzo Trier, who averaged 14.8 points per game as a freshman, as well as senior KaDeem Allen (8.4 points) and juniors Dusan Ristic (7.1 points, 3.8 rebounds) and Parker Jackson-Cartwright (5.2 points per game). Arizona is also adding one of the nation’s top recruiting classes, which is led by five-star talents in forward Lauri Markkanen and guards Kobi Simmons and Rawle Alkins.

Arizona begins its season with home games against the College of Idaho on Nov. 1 and Chico State on Nov. 6 before heading to Hawaii for a big matchup with Michigan State in the Armed Forces Classic.

Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll

1. Oregon Ducks (23)
2. Arizona Wildcats (4)
3. UCLA Bruins
4. California Golden Bears
5. Colorado Buffaloes
6. Washington Huskies
7. USC Trojans
8. Utah Utes
9. Oregon State Beavers
10. Stanford Cardinal
11. Arizona State Sun Devils
12. Washington State Cougars

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