UCLA is the preseason pick to win the Pac-12 this season.

The league announced its preseason media poll on Wednesday, as voted on by a panel of 33 writers who cover the league, and the Bruins were the pick to claim the title for the third consecutive preseason. UCLA will open the season ranked eighth nationally in the AP Top 25, and it received 26 of a possible 33 first-place votes in the Pac-12’s own poll.

The defending champion Arizona Wildcats earned three first-place votes and finished second overall. Oregon is predicted to finish third, earning three first-place votes as well. Stanford received one first-place vote.

Here’s how the projected order of finish in the Pac-12 looks:

  1. UCLA
  2. Arizona
  3. Oregon
  4. USC
  5. Stanford
  6. Colorado
  7. Arizona State
  8. Washington State
  9. Washington
  10. Utah
  11. Cal
  12. Oregon State

The Bruins return four of their top seven scorers from a team that finished runner-up in the Pac-12 regular season and tournament in 2021-22. Coach Mick Cronin could have his best team yet in 2022-23, with seniors Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyger Campbell returning and 5-star freshmen Amari Bailey and Adem Bona joining the fold.

But don’t expect No. 17 Arizona to go away quietly. The Wildcats will look to repeat their Year 1 success under coach Tommy Lloyd and return preseason All-Pac-12 picks in Azuolas Tubelis, Kerr Kriisa, and Pelle Larsson. With an infusion of transfer talent (Courtney Ramey and Cedric Henderson Jr.) and a jump from last year’s role players (Oumar Ballo and Adama Bal), the Wildcats figure to once again be an offense that’s tough to wrangle in.

No. 21 Oregon is in the preseason top four for the eighth consecutive season. Coach Dana Altman brings back Will Richardson to helm a veteran team that got an influx of backcourt talent from the transfer portal this offseason.

According to the league, media have correctly picked the conference winner 17 times in 33 tries. The season begins for every team on Nov. 7.