SAN FRANCISCO – Oregon State, which is set to begin defense of its 2018 National Championship on Friday, has been picked to finish third in the Pac-12 Conference via a vote of the league's coaches, it was announced on Monday.
The Beavers received 85 points and one first-place vote; OSU is five points behind No. 2 Stanford. UCLA was selected to win the conference title, receiving 97 points.
Coaches are not permitted to vote for their own teams. First-place votes are worth 10 points, second place receives nine points and so on.
Oregon State is ranked in the top 10 in every major ranking, and Adley Rutschman, Kevin Abel, Bryce Fehmel, Jake Mulholland and Brandon Eisert have all received at least one preseason All-American honor.