For Immediate Release // Wednesday, July 25, 2018
LOS ANGELES – WASHINGTON was chosen the favorite to win the 2018 Pac-12 Conference football title in a vote of 42 media members who cover Pac-12 football. The Huskies received 37 votes to earn the preseason nod over defending Pac-12 Champion USC. The Huskies garnered 40 first-place votes to hold down the top spot in the Pac-12 North Division, while USC tallied 22 first-place votes to edge out UTAH (14 first-place votes) to win the South Division.
Washington (249 points) was the overwhelming selection to capture the North Division ahead of STANFORD (198) and OREGON (178), which each picked up single votes to win the division.
The media expects the South Division to provide a competitive race with USC (225) topping Utah (209) and ARIZONA (178), which picked up three first-place votes. UCLA collected two votes, and COLORADO one vote, to represent the South Division in the Pac-12 Championship Game.
The media has correctly selected the Conference Champion in 30 of 57 previous polls, but only three times in the last 11 polls. Following are the results of the preseason media poll (points 6-5-4- 3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses):
| North Division | South Division | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| School | Points | School | Points |
| 1. Washington (40) | 249 | 1. USC (22) | 225 |
| 2. Stanford (1) | 198 | 2. Utah (14) | 209 |
| 3. Oregon (1) | 178 | 3. Arizona (3) | 178 |
| 4. California | 108 | 4. UCLA (2) | 116 |
| 5. Washington State | 98 | 5. Colorado (1) | 80 |
| 6. Oregon State | 45 | 6. Arizona State | 72 |
PAC-12 TITLE GAME CHAMPION: Washington (37 votes)
Others receiving votes: USC (2), Oregon (1), Stanford (1), UCLA (1)
The 2018 Pac-12 Football Championship Game will take place Friday, Nov. 30 and will be telecast to a national audience on FOX at 5 p.m. PT. The Championship Game will match the winner of the North Division vs. the winner of the South Division at Levi’s® Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
