It's difficult to judge right now what Arizona will be once the season comes to an end. There are only three players on this year's roster who suited up for the Wildcats last season. Half the roster is made up of freshmen and most of those players are internationals who are still getting adjusted to life in America let alone college basketball.

Thursday, reporters from across the Pac-12 decided that Arizona will be the fifth-best team in the conference this season as the preseason media poll was released. The Wildcats received 173 points overall sandwiching Sean Miller's team in between Stanford and USC.

"I would say fifth would be much higher than I would have anticipated," the Arizona head coach said Thursday. "... We will see. The one thing you learn about your team once you start to actually practice and go through it for a while is you get a sense of the work ethic, how much the players on your team love the game, how much they're willing to put in in terms of effort and consistency.

"So far so good under some difficult circumstances."

UA has plenty of uncertainty once again this year because of all the changes and Miller himself doesn't envision knowing what type of team he truly has on his hands until several weeks into the season.

"When you have 10 guys that didn't play in a game last year of the 13 you have there's just a lot of unknown," Miller said in October. "I think it will remain that way for the next couple of months. Even after we play games I think we'll still be learning about our team."

The Wildcats will certainly have to do the chasing this season from the onset of conference play as there are several teams with many more proven and experienced players returning this year.

Five different teams received first-place votes led by UCLA, which was picked to win the conference. However, there is not much separation from the top teams on the list with Arizona State and Oregon following closely behind the Bruins in the preseason projections.

Miller understands that his team will be at a disadvantage with so much youth for the Wildcats this year, but that is also partly because he understands how much talent there is across the league this season.

"This year I think it might be the strongest year ever in my 12 years in the Pac-10 and Pac-12, because from top to bottom it's so strong," Miller said recently. "We have so much returning experience. Some of our league's best players, if you go through the starting fives of a year ago or top eight players, it's amazing how many returning players on those NCAA Tournament teams return.

"... We're unfortunately on the wrong end of that, which won't help us, but I do believe this year in the Pac-12 that we're gonna have a great conference. Really a competitive conference from top to bottom, and playing 20 games it's gonna be difficult. It's gonna be very, very challenging."

Pac-12 preseason media poll (first-place votes)

1. UCLA (9) - 251 points

2. Arizona State (5) - 246

3. Oregon (7) - 241

4. Stanford (1) - 209

5. Arizona - 173

6. USC (1) - 154

7. Colorado - 149

8. Utah - 131

9. Washington - 85

10. California - 65

11. Washington State - 54

12. Oregon State - 36

This season's preseason all-conference team was also announced Thursday and the Wildcats did not have any representation among the 15 players selected for the first and second teams. However, newcomer James Akinjo did receive an honorable mention nod after he picked up at least four votes from members of the media.

The Georgetown transfer joined the Wildcats at the midway point of last season, but because of NCAA rules he was required to sit out when he arrived. Akinjo received clearance from the NCAA to play as soon as this season begins, and he has already positioned himself to be Arizona's starting point guard coming off his career with the Hoyas.

The California native was named the Big East Freshman of the Year two seasons ago, so Miller has plenty of confidence that Akinjo will be able to pick up where he left off as he begins his career with the Wildcats.

"He's not only an excellent basketball player and talented, but he has more experience," Miller said. "Being through a year and a half of game competition, being here a year ago when he practiced second semester and played every day against Nico Mannion making each other better. I think we expect a lot from James."

So far Akinjo feels he has acclimated well in his new situation and he is up for the task of taking over the important point guard role for the Wildcats.

"Sitting out has been hard but also really helpful for not just my game but me growing as a player and a person," Akinjo said. "While I've been sitting out my focus has really been learning the system here at Arizona trying to be ready for when I come on and hit the ground running."

The Wildcats have not yet announced their schedule but are expected to take the floor Nov. 25 when the new college basketball season opens.

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