It will be easy for the University of Colorado men’s basketball team to adopt an underdog mentality this year after the Buffaloes were picked ninth in the preseason Pac-12 media poll released Thursday.
Last season, the Buffaloes finished 19-15 (8-10 Pac-12) with a first-round exit from the NIT against Central Florida. Three full-time starters, including first-round NBA Draft pick Derrick White, do not return and 8 of 13 active scholarship players are making their CU debut in 2017.
Arizona, ranked No. 1 in the country according to several national preseason polls, tops the Pac-12 poll and received 22-of-23 first-place votes. Here’s how the rest of the poll shakes out (total votes received in parenthesis).
1. Arizona (273)
2. USC (251)
3. UCLA (223)
4. Oregon (203)
5. Stanford (182)
6. Arizona State (146)
7. Utah (129)
8. Oregon State (125)
9. Colorado (112)
10. Washington (71)
11. California (46)
12. Washington State (33)