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Cal Football Selected Second in Pac-10 Preaseason Poll
July 28, 2004 LOS ANGELES, CA - The 2004 California football team has been picked to finish second in the Pacific-10 Conference in a preseason poll of West Coast media members who cover the league. Since 1978, the Golden Bears have never been picked higher than fourth in the preseason poll. The media poll has correctly selected the Conference Champion in 21 of 43 previous polls, including the last four years in a row. USC is the unanimous choice to win the 2004 Pac-10 football title. The Trojans garnered all 24 first-place votes, marking the first time in the Pac-10 era since 1978 that one team received every first-place vote. USC is the defending Pac-10 champion, as well as defending Associated Press national champion, after fashioning a 12-1 record last year, capped by a Rose Bowl win against Michigan. Following are the results of the pre-season media poll (points 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses):
1. USC (24) 240 2. California 210 3. Oregon 192 4. Oregon State 138 5. Washington State 133 6. Arizona State 131 7. Washington 100 8. UCLA 98 9. Stanford 40 10. Arizona 38 POLL NOTES: Pre-season media poll has correctly picked the Conference champion 21 of 43 times and has been very accurate of late in correctly identifying the Conference champ the last four years in a row and five of the last six. . . . Since the Pac-10 era began in 1978, no team had ever before received every first-place vote until USC turned the trick this year. The closest was 1992 when Washington, like USC coming off a national championship the previous season, received 30 of 31 first-place votes. The Huskies came through by making a return trip to the Rose Bowl following the 1992 season. . . . It is the highest predicted finish for CALIFORNIA in the Pac-10 era since 1978. The previous high water mark for the Bears was being picked to finish fourth. . . . Of all the teams, the pollsters seemed to have the most difficulty predicting how ARIZONA STATE will fare this season. The Sun Devils were picked to finish as high as third and as low as ninth. . . . Hope for ARIZONA. In two of the last three years, the team predicted to finish last in the Conference has posted a winning record. . . . And remember, it's the Pac-10, where six different teams have claimed the championship the last six years.
PRESEASON PAC-10 FOOTBALL MEDIA POLL Year Media Poll Pick Actual Finish Rose Bowl/BCS Representative Predicted Finish 1961 UCLA 1st UCLA 1st 1962 Washington 2nd USC 2nd 1963 USC 2nd Washington 2nd 1964 Washington 3rd Oregon State 6th 1965 USC 2nd UCLA 7th 1966 USC 1st USC 1st 1967 USC 1st USC 1st 1968 USC 1st USC 1st 1969 USC 1st USC 1st 1970 USC 6th Stanford 2nd 1971 USC 2nd Stanford 2nd 1972 USC 1st USC 1st 1973 USC 1st USC 1st 1974 USC 1st USC 1st 1975 USC 5th UCLA 3rd 1976 USC 1st USC 1st 1977 USC 2nd Washington 3rd 1978 USC 1st USC 1st 1979 USC 1st USC 1st 1980 USC 3rd Washington 3rd 1981 USC 2nd Washington 4th 1982 USC 3rd UCLA 3rd 1983 Arizona 5th UCLA 5th 1984 UCLA 3rd USC 3rd 1985 USC 4th UCLA 5th 1986 UCLA 2nd Arizona State 4th 1987 UCLA 2nd USC 4th 1988 UCLA 2nd USC 2nd 1989 USC 1st USC 1st 1990 Washington 1st Washington 1st 1991 Washington 1st Washington 1st 1992 Washington 1st Washington 1st 1993 Washington 4th UCLA 6th 1994 Arizona 2nd Oregon 8th 1995 USC 1st USC 1st 1996 USC 5th Arizona State 2nd 1997 Washington 4th Washington State 7th 1998 UCLA 1st UCLA 1st 1999 Arizona 6th Stanford 8th 2000 Washington 1st Washington 1st 2001 Oregon 1st Oregon 1st 2002 Washington St. 1st Washington State 1st 2003 USC 1st USC 1st
Media Poll has correctly selected the Conference Champion 21 of 43 times, including the last four years in a row.
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