SAN FRANCISCO — Utah sophomore forward Timmy Allen was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 second team on Tuesday as the conference's men's basketball media day got underway at the league's headquarters. The 6-6, 205-pound Allen is one of five second-team members following an outstanding freshman season in which he earned Pac-12 All-Freshman honors.
Ten first-team members were named, headlined by 2019 Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player Payton Pritchard of Oregon, and three other first-team all-conference performers—Colorado's Tyler Bey and McKinley Wright IV and Oregon State's Tres Tinkle. Allen averaged 12.2 points per game as a freshman, shooting 57.5 percent from the field, and pulled down 5.1 rebounds per game in his 26 starts.
The Utes were picked to finish ninth in a vote of media members who cover the league, the Pac-12 Conference also announced, with Utah garnering a total of 131 points in the poll. Oregon is the preseason favorite with 291 points, while Colorado is picked second (288) and Washington third (273).
The Utes, coming off a third-place finish in 2018-19 (17-14; 11-7 Pac-12), were picked to finish eighth in last season's media poll and outperformed or equaled their projection for the eighth consecutive season.
For the second year in a row and third time in the past four seasons, Oregon is picked to win the league title after earning a total of 291 points and receiving 9 of the possible 27 first-place votes. Colorado also received nine first-place votes, while Washington pulled in six. It marked only the second time in the league's preseason poll history that two teams received the same number of first-place votes (1988-89). The three points separating Oregon and Colorado were the fourth-fewest in 36 seasons of Conference preseason polling. Others to receive first-place votes include Arizona (2) and USC (1), picked fourth and fifth, respectively, with 263 and 198 points.
Utah has finished tied or ahead of its preseason prediction in each of the past eight years. When Utah joined the league in 2011-12, the Utes were picked to finish 12th, but finished 11th overall. Utah was again picked to finish 12th in 2012-13, but earned a 10th-place finish that season. After being picked to finish ninth in 2013-14, the Utes tied for eighth-place and then in 2014-15, after earning a second-place nod, Utah would go on to finish in a tie for second-place.
The Utes were picked to finish third in 2015-16, but finished in sole possession of second-place that season. A year after, Utah was tabbed to finish in eighth in 2016-17, but earned a fourth-place finish and third-consecutive first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament. After finishing 20-12 overall in 2016-17, the Utes were picked to finish seventh in 2017-18, but opened Pac-12 play with a pair of road wins and would go on to finish in a tie for third-place with a league record of 11-7. Last year Utah finished third after being picked eighth to notch its fifth consecutive season finishing in the league's top four.
Pac-12 teams tip off regular season play with seven games on Tuesday, Nov. 5, including the Utes traveling to Reno to face the Nevada Wolf Pack on CBS Sports Network at 8:30 p.m. MT. Preseason Pac-12 favorite Oregon plays Fresno State on Pac-12 Networks at 7 p.m. MT. Opening week also will feature the fifth annual Pac-12 China Game between Arizona State and Colorado on ESPN2 at 8:30 p.m. MT on Friday, Nov. 8, as well as a pair of early power conference showdowns with Washington facing Baylor in the Armed Forces Classic on Nov. 8 and Arizona hosting Illinois on Sunday, Nov. 10.
Ute fans will have a pair of opportunities to preview the team before the regular season begins, as the team will host Night with the Utes next Wednesday, Oct. 15. Utah's lone exhibition contest will be played Wednesday, Oct. 30, when the squad takes on UT-Tyler at the Huntsman Center. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. and the contest will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks.Utah returns two starters in Allen and sophomore forward Riley Battin, while fellow sophomore Both Gach returns after starting 14 of his 30 games played. Just one senior (Marc Reininger) and one junior (Alfonso Plummer) join four sophomores (Allen, Battin, Gach, Brooks King) and 10 freshmen (Eli Ballstaedt, Jaxon Brenchley, Branden Carlson, Brandon Haddock, Rylan Jones, Mikael Jantunen, Luc Krystkowiak, Hunter Mecum, Lahat Thioune, Matt Van Komen and Brendan Wenzel) on the roster.
