"So how good can Cal be? Not the best in the Pac-10, at least in my eyes, but certainly good enough to win nine or ten games. The good news, at least with the schedule, is that the Bears get Oregon and Arizona State at home; however, the bad news is that the Bears need to go to U.S.C. and Oregon State. While I like Cal, and expect a marked improvement over 2007, I think they are a notch below Arizona State and a full step below U.S.C."
When in doubt, go with the consensus. Nothing remotely controversial or interesting about this one. BOOOO.
Ted Miller opts the safe way too, although he does mention that Jake Locker is the West Coast’s version of Tim Tebow. Yeugh, I hope not. That says more about the West Coast than it does about Jake Locker.
"#5) California Golden Bears
"Some people have this team a little higher than what we have them, but we just aren’t sure that a team returning 13 starters can make that big a difference on a team that finished tied for 7th last year at 3-6."
The returning starters bit seems insightful...until you realize that only ONE team is returning 15 or more starters in the Pac-10 (The Farm). This same site ranks them ninth in the Pac-10. So experience doesn’t seem to be as big of a deal as you’d probably think.
Then again, this is a gambling site, so it’s probably in their best interest to be wrong.
Finally, from CBS’s Sportsline Editor, who writes perhaps the most asinine article on the topic:
"7. California: The Bears need to recover from the epic 1-6 meltdown to close ’07. Try to remember Cal was once the No. 2 team in the country. Then Kevin “Throw The Damn Ball” Riley lost the Oregon State game. Riley is in a battle for the starting job with veteran Nate Longshore. Coach Jeff Tedford gave up play-calling duties, handing them over to new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti. Which way you going, Bears?"
Wow, what penetrating analysis of the state of our football team. Since we were once the No. 2 team in the country, the veterans will manifest their nostalgia into inner self-loathing. Also, some freshman who made an isolated mistake and atoned for it in the bowl game is actually contending for the quarterback position, so clearly we are in no man’s land.
Now some mysterious offensive coordinator will definitely end up sinking this team, because really, when you don’t know what to expect, rank them as low as possible.
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