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The Arizona Wildcats were picked to defend their Pac-12 men’s basketball title this morning by a poll of media who cover the conference.
The Wildcats had 18 first-place votes. Cal was picked to finish second with nine first-place votes, followed by Utah (seven), Oregon (one) and UCLA (one).
Arizona’s lofty pick has most to do with the Wildcats’ recent success under Sean Miller with consecutive Elite Eight appearances. Miller most infuse new talent into a lineup that lost four starters from last season.
When the Wildcats are picked to win the conference, they tend to live up to the expectations.
The lowest Arizona has finished when picked first since the media poll started in 1989-90 was a tie for fourth place in 2005-06. That was a year before Lute Olson’s last season as the Wildcats’ coach.
Arizona was picked to finish first 14 times and lived up to that expectation nine times. The Wildcats have finished twice and third twice as a first-place selection.
That means for the most part the Wildcats are in the running for the conference title by March as a favorite.
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Site founder and award-winning sports journalist Javier Morales has published his first e-book, “The Highest Form of Living”, a fiction piece about a young man who overcomes a troubled upbringing without his lost father and wayward mother through basketball and hope. His hope is realized through the sport he loves. Basketball enables him to get past his fears. His experience on the court indirectly brings him closer to his parents in a unique, heartfelt way. Please order it at Amazon (for only $4.99) by clicking on the photo:
The media has picked @APlayersProgram to win the Pac-12 for the 4th year in a row #Pac12Hoops http://t.co/065KC39Moj pic.twitter.com/MNL6EZyyMd
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) October 15, 2015
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He has also written articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.
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