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SALT LAKE CITY — The margin for error in head coach Craig Smith's first season at Utah was razor thin.
In a conference loaded with talent, Smith's team wasn't expected to amount to much in his first season in the Pac-12. And while his team started to put it together a bit late in the season and made a few teams sweat along the way, Utah finished with a 4-16 record in conference play to land at 11th place, just one spot lower than its preseason prediction.
His second season won't be any easier, even with an improved roster that he sees as being more physical and better built to compete in the Pac-12. The margin for error isn't as thin as last season, but the challenge remains an ever-changing uphill battle.
That difficult climb to the top of the conference hierarchy was made evident on Wednesday when the media picked Utah to finish 10th again in the Pac-12 preseason poll. It's just the second time in program history that Utah has been picked to finish 10th since joining the Pac-12, and it comes in back-to-back season.
And while low in the projected standings, Utah has been picked to finished 12th two times — former Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak's first two season with the program, which was also the first two seasons Utah played in the Pac-12.
Behind the Utes in the projected standings this season is No. 11 California and No. 12 Oregon State.
For the third-straight year, UCLA was picked to win the conference and received 26 of the 33 total first-place votes from the voting media. No. 2 Arizona and No. 3 Oregon both received three first-place votes, and No. 5 Stanford received one first-place vote.
Though the Bruins have been picked to win the conference the last two seasons, it was Arizona and Oregon, respectively, that finished at the top of the standings.
The Bruins remain a formidable force in the conference this season, especially as it continues to reload with top-flight athletes under Mick Cronin and returns Pac-12 All-Conference first-team members in Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyger Campbell. UCLA will face stiff competition from a rising Arizona team that is led by forward Azuolas Tubelis, who was also named to the All-Conference first team.
The full preseason poll is as follows:
- 1 - UCLA, 386 points (26 first-place votes)
- 2 - Arizona, 352 (3)
- 3 - Oregon, 336 (3)
- 4 - USC, 300
- 5 - Stanford, 239 (1)
- 6 - Colorado, 207
- 7 - Arizona State, 193
- 8 - Washington State, 185
- 9 - Washington, 158
- 10 - Utah, 102
- 11 - California, 69
- 12 - Oregon State, 47
