Beginning in October and running up through November 13th, the first day of the regular season, College Basketball Talk will be unveiling the 2015-2016 NBCSports.com college hoops preview package.
Advertisement
The Cal men’s basketball team was picked to finish second in the Pac-12 Conference by a panel of 36 media members who cover the league. Both will be televised by the Pac-12 network.
“I’m very confident in what we can do”. “I don’t think you’re gonna do that in the Pac-12”. Women’s basketball would be a natural. But I’m going to pick the more talented team.
“That is an area that we really need to continue to explore”, Huskies coach Mike Neighbors said.
I’M MOST EXCITED ABOUT: the race for the Pac-12 title, which should be tight throughout. “That means a lot of good things have happened for us”. That opens up a lot of slots for those two teams, especially with the conference placing ten players on its first team.
“Maybe we’ll shoot for it, how’s his jumper looking?” she joked of Neighbors.
“We quickly kind of drew the line in the sand”.
In the preseason coaches’ poll announced Wednesday, Oregon State was picked to repeat as Pac-12 champion. Conversely, Oregon St is a very young team this year, which leaves them vulnerable to embarrassing beat-downs on the field such as the one we saw last week, but also leaves them primed for improvements as the year grinds on, which we may see this week. “Obviously the expectations are high, we found that out this morning”, Rueck said.
“I know there’s been a flurry of media documenting the intriguing concept that we absolutely ought to explore”, he said. “This group is one that’s going to embrace that challenge”.
SAN FRANCISCO – Even after losing four key players from previous year, Arizona was still picked to win the Pac-12 in the preseason media poll released at the conference’s media day on Thursday.
Oregon (picked fourth) and UCLA (fifth) each received a first-place vote, while Oregon State was expected to finish sixth.
“I’m a strong believer the stronger the other teams are in our conference the better it makes everybody else”, said Arizona coach Niya Butts, who will take her Wildcats crew to a Tucson-area military base this weekend for a few “unique training”. A tough non-conference schedule will test the Sun Devils before Pac-12 play begins, but Hurley can call upon players such as guards Tra Holder and Gerry Blakes and forward Savon Goodman in his debut in Tempe.
“From a rivalry standpoint, we think we have a great, fun rivalry”, Bruins coach Cori Close said. “He’s a grown man. He’s going into his fourth year”, Alford said. Colorado led the second half of the poll at No. 7, followed by ASU, Stanford, USC, Washington and Washington State.
“It’s personal for our program”.
But Wallace said the Bears aren’t focused on the early hype – something that has not surrounded Cal in recent years – because they’re dialed into their day-to-day responsibilities and growth. What works in Romar’s favor is the fact that they’ve recruited well in the 2015 class, and they’ve got a five-star prospect in Markelle Fultz coming in next season.
“We’re playing for the loss of our President Elson Floyd with heavy hearts”, coach June Daugherty said.
Advertisement
Washington State will honor late university President Elson Floyd, who died in June following a bout with cancer. “You’ll see those patches on our uniforms for good reason”.
