UCLA picked to win Pac-12 South in preseason media poll

Preseason media polls don’t exactly predict the future, but UCLA wouldn’t mind if they did this upcoming season.

The Bruins were picked to win the Pac-12’s South Division by 33 Pac-12 media members, while Stanford was tabbed as the North Division winner and eventual Pac-12 champion. It’s the first time in 56 years of the media poll that the Cardinal have been picked to win the conference.

USC was picked to finish second behind UCLA in the South, receiving seven fewer first-place votes.The Trojans, however, received five votes to win the Pac-12 championship game while the Bruins received three. USC was picked to win the conference by the media before last season, and lost to Stanford in the Pac-12 title game.

It was the first time since 2009 that Oregon wasn’t picked to win the North Division. The Ducks were slotted third in the North behind Stanford and Washington, and received just one first-place vote.

jesse.dougherty@latimes.com

Twitter: @dougherty_jesse