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Washington State football picked to finish third in Pac-12 North

With the return of veteran quarterback Luke Falk, coach Mike Leach and the Washington State Cougars were picked third in the Pac-12 North. (Young Kwak / Associated Press)
From staff and wire reports

LOS ANGELES – Southern California is the preseason pick to win the Pac-12 in a poll of football media, and defending champion Washington is favored to win the North Division.

The conference announced the results Wednesday before its preseason media availabilities in Hollywood.

Stanford is picked second in the North after going 10-3 last season. The Cardinal are followed by revitalized Washington State and rebuilding Oregon.

The Cougars return quarterback Luke Falk to direct coach Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense. Falk, a senior from Logan, Utah, completed 70 percent of his passes last season while throwing for 4,468 yards with 38 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

WSU also returns a productive stable of running backs, with Gerard Wicks, Jamal Morrow and James Williams combining to rush for 1,645 yards and 22 touchdowns in 2016. Left guard Cody O’Connell, a unanimous All-America selection last season, will lead the offensive line.

Senior middle linebacker Peyton Pelluer will again lead the Cougars defense after recording 93 tackles last season. Hercules Mata’afa, a 252-pound redshirt junior, returns on the line after totaling 12 sacks in his first two seasons. Cornerback Darrien Molton, who has started every game he has played for WSU, was second on the team with 71 tackles in 2016.

USC got 28 of 52 overall first-place votes, topping the Huskies’ 22. Both schools were clear favorites in their respective divisions, getting 49 of the 52 votes for the top spot.

The Trojans won their final nine games last season behind returning quarterback Sam Darnold, culminating in a thrilling Rose Bowl victory over Penn State. Although USC must replace playmakers at several key positions, coach Clay Helton returns for his second full season with the school’s usual roster loaded with NFL-caliber talent.

USC has been greeted annually with frenzied preseason expectations, particularly since the dominant Pete Carroll era. The Trojans have far more coaching changes than conference titles in the past decade, failing to take the crown after being installed as the preseason favorites in 2012 and 2015.

Another word of warning for the Trojans: The media has correctly picked the conference champion only twice in the last decade.

Washington went 12-2 and won the conference title game over Colorado last season. The Huskies lost to Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinal, but star quarterback Jake Browning returns along with several key components of coach Chris Petersen’s burgeoning powerhouse.

The Buffaloes are picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 South behind Utah and UCLA despite their breakthrough season under coach Mike MacIntyre. Arizona State ranked fifth in the division, and Arizona was last.

Oregon, which replaced coach Mark Helfrich with Willie Taggart after going 4-8 last fall for its worst season in a quarter-century.

Oregon State is picked fifth in the North, with California expected to finish last under new coach Justin Wilcox.

Oregon and Utah got one vote apiece as Pac-12 title game champions.