USC Tabbed to Win Pac-10 in Preseason Media Poll (Again)

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Seven-time defending Pac-10 champion USC is no surprise as the choice to win the 2009 Pacific-10 Conference football title in a preseason poll of West Coast media members who regularly cover the league. The Trojans were listed in the top spot by 28 of the 32 voters participating in the poll. It marks the seventh consecutive year the Trojans have been the choice to win the title. USC has won or shared the last seven Pac-10 titles and has two National Championships and a national runner-up finish in the last six years. The Trojans fashioned a 12-1 mark last season, capped by a 38-24 romp over Penn State in the Rose Bowl. CALIFORNIA was tabbed to finish second in the poll, followed by OREGON and OREGON STATE. The Golden Bears received three first-place votes and the Ducks picked up one. The media poll has correctly selected the Conference Champion in 26 of 48 previous polls, including the last nine years in a row. Following are the results of the preseason media poll (points 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses):

1. USC (28) 316
2. California (3) 277
3. Oregon (1) 250
4. Oregon State 216
5. Arizona State 155
6. Stanford 150
7. UCLA 145
8. Arizona 142
9. Washington 74
10. Washington State 35

POLL NOTES: Preseason media poll has correctly picked the Conference champion 26 of 48 times and has been very accurate of late in correctly identifying the Conference champ the last nine years in a row. . . . USC becomes the first school to top the media poll for seven straight years since the Trojans had an 18-year run atop the poll from 1965-1982.