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SALT LAKE CITY — Lynne Roberts hasn't shied away from expectations; if anything, she's embraced it and wants more.
A year removed from a Sweet 16 appearance where Utah took eventual national champion LSU down to the wire, Roberts' teams has even bigger expectations coming into the last season of the Pac-12.
Her squad, which returns every starter from last season, was picked to win the Pac-12 for the 2023-24 season in the preseason coaches and media polls. The Utes received seven of the 11 possible first-place votes in the coaches poll, and 12 of the 27 possible first-place votes in the media poll.
"My objective in taking over this job was to make our program nationally relevant, and I think we've done that," Roberts told KSL.com on The Utah Checkdown podcast last week. "I take stock in it that way, but not in any way of like, we've arrived and we're gonna finish there. Our goal is to go as far as we can and go farther than we did last year and try to make a final four. And that's a big task.
"I take stock in it in that I think that we're getting the recognition that we've been working so hard to get, but now we've got to prove it."
Utah edged out UCLA in both polls, though the Bruins were a close second — just two spots removed — with 10 first-place votes in the media poll. Stanford, which shared a regular season title with Utah last year, rounded out the top three teams with two first-place votes in the coaches poll and five in the media poll. No other team received a first-place vote.
Both polls picked teams 3 through 8 as the same — No. 4 Colorado, No. 5 Washington State, No. 6 USC, No. 7 Arizona, No. 8 Oregon — with a slightly shuffled final four teams.
The Utes also had two players, reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year Alissa Pili and Gianna Kneepkens, named to the preseason all-conference team. Reigning Defensive Player of the Year Cameron Brink (Stanford) and reigning Freshman and Sixth Player of the Year Reagan Beers (Oregon State) return this season.
"I honestly think it's the best it's ever been," Roberts said of the Pac-12 competition. "If you look at the talent for our league, it's ridiculous, in a good way and also in a competitive scary way. There's no rollover team. From top to bottom, it's competitive. That's been the case since I've been here, but I think every year it's gotten a little bit better."
