USC picked to win the Pac-12 football title

The media predicted a first for USC and the Pac-12 Conference’s South Division on Wednesday, picking the Trojans not only to win the South but defeat Washington in the conference championship game on Dec. 1 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

That would certainly be newsworthy. Pac-12 South teams are 0-6 against their northern counterparts in the conference championship game. USC lost in its only appearance, in 2015.

USC is not considered a runaway favorite, however, receiving 28 votes to win the championship game versus Washington’s 22 votes. Oregon and Utah received one vote each.

The media picked defending conference champion Washington to win the Pac-12 North with 49 first-place votes and 309 points. Second-place Stanford generated one first-place vote and 247 points, followed by Washington State (206 points), Oregon (163), Oregon State (101) and California (64).

USC was selected as the South winner with 49 first-place votes and 309 points, followed by Utah (220 points), UCLA (209), Colorado (182), Arizona State (109) and Arizona (61). Utah and UCLA each received one first-place vote.

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