Preseason poll: Arizona picked by media to finish fourth in the Pac-12
The Tommy Lloyd era at Arizona will begin with the Wildcats expected to finish in a tie for fourth place in the Pac-12 Conference standings. At least that's what media members from across the league believe.
UA was awarded 245 points in the preseason media poll released ahead of Pac-12 Media Day, Wednesday. That put the Wildcats even with Oregon State as both teams finished in a tie for fourth on the list behind UCLA, Oregon and USC.
Arizona finished fifth in league play last season after going 11-9 in Pac-12 games and 17-9 overall in the final year under former coach Sean Miller.
UA, of course, has gone through plenty of changes since the end of last season with some players moving on in addition to the program bringing in Lloyd to replace Miller as head coach.
Lloyd proceeded to make several roster additions this offseason including bringing in Utah guard Pelle Larsson as a transfer. Gonzaga big man and former five-star recruit Oumar Ballo followed Lloyd to Tucson from Spokane plus UA added Georgia transfer guard Justin Kier and Eastern Washington forward Kim Aiken Jr. to the mix as well heading into the season.
Though UA lost its starting point guard, James Akinjo, by way of a transfer to play at Baylor, the Wildcats has an important group of returners highlighted by preseason all-conference selections Benn Mathurin and Azuolas Tubelis.
"I feel like we have a team that can be really competitive," Lloyd recently said. "I've been around a lot of really good teams, and I know how they look and how it feels. I think this team has a chance to be in that category.
"Now, we've gotta do it. That's the challenge. I don't know. Rebuild, refresh? Maybe a combination of all those things, but we got a great core group of guys back that have been awesome to deal with. I think recruiting wise we were able to add pieces that will help us win games."
Uncertainty about a first-time head coach and a roster that will have to fit some different pieces together likely kept the Wildcats from moving into the top three in the conference as there was a clear separation between that group and the rest of the pack.
UCLA received nearly all the first-place votes in the poll after a deep run in the NCAA Tournament that ended with a spot in the Final Four. It is the second season in a row that the Bruins have been picked to finish atop the conference.
Oregon has won the regular season title in each of the last two years, and the Ducks were picked to finish among the top four teams for the seventh consecutive year. Dana Altman's team received the other two first-place votes not awarded to UCLA in the poll to finish 53 points ahead of USC for the second spot on the list.
The Wildcats will open the season Nov. 9 against Northern Arizona, but the first action for the team will come in less than three weeks when UA hosts Eastern New Mexico for an exhibition Nov. 1 at McKale Center.
Pac-12 preseason media poll
1. UCLA (32, 1st-place votes) – 404 points
2. Oregon (2) – 373
3. USC – 320
T-4. Arizona – 245
T-4. Oregon State – 245
6. Colorado – 235
7. Arizona State – 224
8. Washington State – 221
9. Stanford – 151
10. Utah – 105
11. Washington – 85
12. California – 44
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