Arizona women’s basketball picked to finish second in Pac-12 preseason media and coaches polls

In just three years, the Arizona women’s basketball team has flipped the script.

The Wildcats were picked to finish second in the 2020-21 preseason Pac-12 coaches and media polls on Tuesday, three seasons after they finished second to last in the conference.

It’s Arizona’s highest preseason conference ranking since 2004.

The Wildcats even received some first-place votes, picking up one of 21 in the media poll and two of 12 in the coaches poll. Stanford was picked as the overwhelming favorite in both polls.

The Pac-12 is expected to be extremely competitive this year, placing five teams in the AP Top 25—Stanford (2), Arizona (7), UCLA (9), Oregon (10) and Oregon State (18).

Here is how the two polls shook out:

Media poll

1. Stanford (19)
2. Arizona (1)
3. Oregon
4. UCLA
5. Oregon State (1)
6. Arizona State
7. USC
8. Utah
9. Cal
10. Colorado
11. Washington
12. Washington State

Coaches poll

1. Stanford (10)
2. Arizona (2)*
3. Oregon*
4. UCLA
5. Oregon State
6. USC
7. Arizona State
8. Utah
9. Colorado
10. California
11. Washington
12. Washington State

*Arizona and Oregon are tied for second with 103 votes.