For the first time since in six seasons, Arizona was chosen as the favorite to win the Pac-12 Men's Basketball regular season title in a vote of 26 media members who cover the league and announced prior to the league's 2023 Media Day on Wednesday.
The Wildcats, who received 18-of-26 first-place votes to top the poll for the first time since 2017, return three of their top seven scorers from a team that captured the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament title, and add a trio of high-level transfers in Jaden Bradley (Alabama), Keshad Johnson (San Diego State) and Caleb Love (North Carolina).
USC received four first-place votes and matched its highest preseason billing; the Trojans were also picked second prior to the 2017-18 season. UCLA also garnered a quartet of first-place votes to place third, while OREGON was picked fourth to make the top 4 of the preseason polling for the ninth consecutive campaign. COLORADO and ARIZONA STATE rounded out the top half of the poll.
Media have correctly picked the Conference winner 18 times in 34 tries, including the recent 2022-23 season (UCLA) and six times in the Pac-12 era (since 2011-12), while the winner has been accurately chosen in 22 of the 39 all-time preseason votes.
2023-24 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Outlook
- Pac-12 Men's Basketball will welcome back five First Team All-Conference selections, the league's most since 2007-08.
- In addition, the league's eight returning All-Conference performers and four returning All-Defensive Team selections are the most in the Pac-12 era, and most since 2010-11.
- All totaled, the 14 returning All-Conference, All-Defensive and All-Freshman Team performers are the most in the Pac-12 era (13 entering 2022-23).
- 2023 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Adem Bona opted to return to UCLA, becoming only the third Freshman of the Year to return for a sophomore season in the Pac-12 era (Jahii Carson, ASU; Harrison Ingram, STAN).
- Pac-12 programs combined to announce 37 incoming transfers for the upcoming 2023-24 season, 17 of which received either all-conference or national recognition at prior programs.
- Pac-12 programs combined for nine top-50 signees, the most of any conference in the country.
- Among the signees are six McDonald's All-Americans, equaling the most of any league and the most ever for the Conference since the event's inception in 1978.
- In addition to the nationally ranked domestic signees, the Pac-12 landed some of the top available international recruits.
