Washington was the clear-cut choice to win the Pac-12 North Division in football, with Stanford second, and to win the conference title in the preseason media poll, the Pac-12 announced Wednesday.

The Huskies received 40 first-place votes to just one for the Cardinal and one for Oregon. UW picked up 249 overall points. Stanford, the defending division champion, received 198 points and Oregon 178. Cal was fourth at 108.

As for the conference title, Washington was the choice of 37 of the 42 media members who cover Pac-12 football. In the South Division, defending conference champion USC received 22 first-place votes to 14 for second-place Utah.

The Trojans had 225 points in the voting, topping Utah (209) and Arizona (178), which picked up three first-place votes. UCLA collected two first-place votes and Colorado one.

The media members correctly have selected the champion in 30 of the 57 previous polls but only three times in the past 11 years.

More Information Pac-12 preseason media poll Points are given for rankings in order 6-5-4-3-2-1 (first-place votes in parentheses): North Division Team Points 1. Washington (40) 249 2. Stanford (1) 198 3. Oregon (1) 178 4. Cal 108 5. Washington State 98 6. Oregon State 45 South Division Team Points 1. USC (22) 225 2. Utah (14) 209 3. Arizona (3) 178 4. UCLA (2) 116 5. Colorado (1) 80 6. Arizona State 72

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The Pac-12 championship game is Nov. 30 at Levi’s Stadium.

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald