Cal women’s basketball ranked 4th in Pac-12 preseason coaches’ poll
The Pac-12 released its annual preseason coaches’ poll on Oct. 10 and there were no surprises at the top. Last year’s champion, Oregon, kept its place on top while Cal is projected to improve upon last year’s performance, slotted in the fourth position.
The Ducks received a whopping 121 points, receiving 11 of 12 first-place votes from the conference’s coaches. The other vote went to Stanford as the Cardinal took second place with 107 points. Oregon State follows in line behind Stanford, just three points less than the Cardinal at No. 3.
The Bears are ranked No. 4 by the coaches with 82 points, which is an improvement on last year’s fifth place finish, accentuated by an 11-7 conference record. Senior forward and All-American candidate Kristine Anigwe will be leading the charge to try and earn Cal an even better season in her final season with the blue and goal.
The poll highlights an Oregon-Bay Area divisional rivalry to the heated Pac-12 competition that’s been brewing over the past few seasons.
Arizona State and UCLA took the last two spots at the top half of the conference with 79 and 74 points, respectively.
USC (66), Utah (50), Colorado (44) and Arizona (28) made it into the top 10, while the state of Washington anchored the bottom — the Cougars and Huskies received just 19 and 18 points, respectively.
Cal will tip-off its regular season at home on November 6 against Houston after hosting an exhibition game on November 1 against Westmont.
Can Sariöz covers women’s basketball. Contact him at csarioz@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @can_sarioz.