News From the 2018 Pac-12 Football Media Days in Hollywood

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – As the 2018 season unofficially kicks off Wednesday at the Pac-12 Football Media Days, there was no shortage of news coming from the Loews Hollywood Hotel.

The 2018 Pac-12 Conference preseason media poll was released Wednesday morning, which slotted the University of Colorado to finish fifth in the South Division race. The Buffaloes did receive one first-place vote in the poll.

Washington was chosen as the favorite to win the 2018 Pac-12 title in a vote of 42 media members who cover the conference. The Huskies received 37 votes to earn the preseason nod over defending Pac-12 Champion USC. The Huskies garnered 40 first-place votes to hold down the top spot in the Pac-12 North Division, while USC tallied 22 first-place votes to edge out UTAH (14 first-place votes) to win the South Division.

2018 Pac-12 Preseason Media Poll
South Division (first-place votes in parentheses)
1. USC (22) - 225
2. Utah (14) - 209
3. Arizona (3) - 178
4. UCLA (2) - 116
5. Colorado (1) - 80
6. Arizona State - 72

North Division
1. Washington (40) - 249
2. Stanford (1) - 198
3. Oregon (1) - 178
4. California - 108
5. Washington State - 95
6. Oregon State - 45

Pac-12 Networks Ramp Up College Football Coverage in 2018
The TV entity of the conference, the Pac-12 Networks, laid out its coverage plans for the upcoming season and its enhanced efforts to provide more content across more platforms in covering the conference's 12 universities. In total, Pac-12 Networks will air 34 live games, including 13 over the first three weeks and finishing strong with 11 in the month of November.

The Networks also rolled out new programing coming up this fall, along with new and more convenient ways for the fans to follow their favorite teams. The highlights:

• "The Pregame" – For the first time ever, Pac-12 Networks will take its signature Saturday show on the road all season long. Each Saturday, beginning with the second week of the season, the hour-long program will kick start the day's live coverage from a different Pac-12 campus as the show will make stops at all 12 universities all season long.

Also, as for the first time ever, as part of "The Pregame" tour across all 12 campuses, on-site coverage for Pac-12 Networks will begin Wednesday of that week with content appearing across the network's linear, digital and social media channels every day, leading up to "the Pregame" on Saturday.

• "Football in 60" returns, with an added bonus of on-demand now being available for the fan's viewing pleasure. As with past years, each week Pac-12 Networks will re-air each of the previous week's Pac-12 football games in an action-packed and hour long package. Each "Football in 60" episode will now be available on-demand on the Pac-12 Now app and at Pac-12.com.

The Networks will produce quick recaps for all Pac-12 football games in a short-form fashion for its digital and social media channels, with one 60-second recap for each Pac-12 team every week.

• "Inside Pac-12 Football" – Returning this season with a new nightly home every Tuesday evening, "Inside Pac-12 Football" is your spot for all football analysis on Pac-12 Networks. It will start with a pair of episodes covering Pac-12 Football Media Days, while regular episodes begin Tuesday, Aug. 28 as part of the kickoff week of the season.

• "The Drive" – Pac-12 Networks will return its award-winning series with a new format as it continues to cover all 12 programs from an in-depth prospective. This season of "The Drive" will focus on key storylines from all 12 programs, with short-form features debuting across Pac-12 Networks digital and social media platforms.

On Pac-12 Network, five compilation episodes will air through the season, featuring the most compelling storylines from various teams per episode and covering all 12 institutions across four half-hour shows, starting with a special hour-long season previews on Aug. 27.

News From the 2018 Pac-12 Football Media Days in Hollywood

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