I don’t think our final ranking will have much of an effect on our preseason ranking next year. The preseason rankings have never made much sense to me (remember when UCLA was #14 in last year’s preseason?). With the level of talent we’re returning in both offense and defense, I wouldn’t be surprised to see us around 10-15 in next year’s preseason rankings. However, without all the hype Best received in the last few games of the season, we’d probably be on the fringes of the preseason rankings.

My best guess is that we’ll be assessed like the pre-2006 team was- an up-and-down team the previous year who should be stronger due to the abundance of returning starters on both offense and defense, including a few star players. Although we lose some key players, the gains in experience should give this team more stability and consistency than the 2008 team. The defense should be about the same (a slight drop off initially which will probably be made up over the season) and the offense should be much more versatile because our passing game will (that’s right, Kevin, will) greatly improve due to a clear starter and a more experienced group of receivers. The 2006 team started the season as #9 (that didn’t last long) and I’m guessing the 2009 team will be toward the edge of the top 15.

Also, JO’s blog received a makeover. It got rid of the Nate banner and now has two sections: football and basketball.

WHOO NUMBER FIVE BABY

this is bullshit…I need to calm down first, then I’ll address this with some rationalized thinking. West Virginia! Losers to Colorado and East Carolina! Best win is 6 pt win over S. Florida? 1 pt win over N Carolina? Jesus…

Wilner doesn’t know how to vote either…

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Utah
4. Oklahoma
5. USC
6. Alabama
7. Mississippi.
8. Texas Christian
9. Penn State
10. Ohio State
11. Boise State
12. Oregon
13. Texas Tech
14. Georgia
15. Virginia Tech
16. Oklahoma State
17. Cincinnati
18. Oregon State
19. Florida State
20. Missouri
21. Pittsburgh
22. Cal
23. Louisiana State
24. Michigan State
25. Northwestern

Patron shots, anyone?

on a positive note, nice 7pt win on the road last night, huh?

JO’s review of the offensive line:

These guys ate, blocked, slept, pooped, worked out, and then repeated as needed over the entire season. Couple of minor injuries, but that’s about it. Nice unit returning next year, but who’s under center and who will blow the whistle during up-downs?

California Spirit throws in the towell

more pics

In fact, Florida is the national champion not because the BCS or Thom Brennaman or Federal Express say so, but because it was the best team in the country. It lost by a point to a team that schooled Texas Tech, but it also held the highest scoring team in NCAA history to two touchdowns. It may not have been the team Florida should have played – that should have been Utah, or as a fallback position, Texas, but none of that was Florida’s fault.

It is folk wisdom that the BCS determines not the champion, but who finishes second. This time, the system got second place wrong. More teams were hosed than rewarded, which is a high number even for the BCS – usually only one team gets jobbed.

First place, though, isn’t the scene of the crime this time. After all, nobody thought of Utah as a potential rival until it beat Alabama – a team Florida beat more convincingly because it didn’t have Harvin.

This will not satisfy Utah fans, who had the best argument, or BCS fifth columnists, who still don’t get the real reason the BCS exists (so that the NCAA can maintain unchallenged control of the football industry) or why it thrives (because all the anti-BCS bitching is the BCS’ best reason for living).

But look at it this way – in 237 days, the hamster wheel of rage that is college football starts up again. Florida got a crystal football from a bankrupt trophy company, but Utah won a new national constituency. In the longer term, the two may turn out to be equally valuable.

Ratto

sorry…but how did this impressive Cal team lose to Missouri by 27? Is Mizzou that good? Was it a bad day? Why couldn’t they lose by 4?

Dude, hello, wheres the Avinash smacktalk?!?! YOU WON IT ALL!!!

HUGE NEWS! HUGE, INEVITABLE NEWS!

BERKELEY – An extensive geoarchaeological investigation commissioned by the University of California has found no evidence of prehistoric Native American artifacts or human remains beneath the construction site for the campus’s new Student-Athlete High Performance Center.

The full report on the investigation’s findings was released Thursday by William Self Associates, one of the nation’s leading consulting firms on matters related to archaeological and historical preservation.

According to the report, the “debris observed in the field and noted during lab analysis is believed to have been associated with the construction of Memorial Stadium in 1923 or with private residences that were…located within and around the project area.”

The report’s findings support the conclusions of the firm’s earlier, comprehensive review of California state records and archival material: research that found no substantive indications that unique or important prehistoric artifacts or human remains exist beneath the construction site.

The Student-Athlete High Performance Center will provide safe and suitable training, medical and academic facilities for more than 400 student athletes, coaches and staff members associated with 13 of Cal’s 27 intercollegiate teams.

Cal bball wins:

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) -Patrick Christopher scored 22 points and California held off Washington State 57-50 on Thursday night for its eighth straight victory.

Jamal Boykin added 12 points for California (14-2, 3-0 Pac-10), which didn’t put the game away until the final minutes.

Taylor Rochestie scored 19 points for Washington State (8-6, 0-2), which lost its third straight.

Washington State’s shooting woes continued, as the Cougars shot just 37 percent. They have topped 55 points and reached 50 percent shooting only once – in a win over Montana State – in their past six games

Cal shot 50 percent, but was held seven points below its season average by the nation’s best defense, which allows only 50 points per game.

After Washington State tied the score at 28 early in the second, Boykin scored four of Cal’s next five baskets as the Bears built a 39-33 lead.

That lead stood up most of the second half. Rochestie hit a pair of baskets for WSU to pull to 44-40, but Christopher’s 3-pointer opened it up again. After Rochestie scored again, Christopher hit two more baskets as Cal took its biggest lead at 51-42 with just over 4 minutes left.

Womens bball also wins:

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Senior forward Ashley Walker had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 13 California to a 68-45 win over Washington State on Thursday night.

Walker, the Pac-10’s leading scorer, had her 38th double-double and moved into second place on the Bears’ career scoring list with 1,774 points. She scored Cal’s final 10 points in the first half and finished 11-for-18 from the floor while leading the Bears to their fourth consecutive win.

California (12-2, 3-0) never trailed and led by as much as 25 in beating Washington State for the eighth straight time. The Bears haven’t lost to the Cougars since Jan. 27, 2005.

“They came out and kept it close,” said Cal head coach Joanne Boyle. “They did a lot of things to create havoc. I thought we did a good job, in particular, in the last four minutes of the game, something we really needed to improve on.”

Anger is All-American puntstud:

BERKELEY – California punter Bryan Anger was named to the Freshman All-America team by the Football Writers Association of America Thursday, adding to his long list of accolades for the 2008 season.

In addition to the FWAA honor, Anger was selected to first-team Freshman All-America squads by the Sporting News, College Football News and rivals.com. He was also chosen second-team All-Pac-10 and a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award, which is presented to the top punter in the nation.

A redshirt-freshman from Camarillo, Calif., Anger averaged 43.1 yards per punt this past season, ranking 18th in the country and third in the Pac-10. He was named Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week after averaging 47.4 ypp vs. Arizona State with three kicks landing inside the 20-yard-line. Anger later set a school single-game record when he averaged 60.2 ypp vs. Stanford. His 76-yard punt vs. Cardinal was the fourth longest in Cal history, and he added a 75-yarder later in the game.

Swimmers receive honors:

WALNUT CREEK, CALIF. – California sophomore Nathan Adrian has been named the Pac-10 Swimmer of the Month for December, while sophomore diver Tom Henninger was named the Pac-10 Men’s Diver of the Month for the second month in a row, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced Thursday, Jan. 8.

Adrian, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist from Bremerton, Wash., helped the No. 4-ranked Cal men swimmers (2-0) win the Dec. 4-6 Husky Invitational in Seattle by being involved in seven victories. On Dec. 4 he won the 50 free in a Cal school record and NCAA automatic qualifying time of 18.94 (old record was 19.01 set by Duje Draganja in 2005) and also helped the Bears win the 200 free and 400 medley relays. On Dec. 5 Adrian won the 100 fly with a time of 47.47 and led off Cal’s winning 800 free relay. Finally on Dec. 6, he won the 100 free with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 41.83 (fourth fastest time in Cal history) and swam the second leg of the Bears’ winning 400 free relay, which had an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 2:50.15.

i hate reporting on extremely unsubstantiated rumors, but a post on BI says that someone on the Notre Dame board posted that they had spoken to either Kennard or a close friend of his (i forget which) and that Kennard was a silent cal commit, based primarily on the fact that he’d get to compete right away if he did choose cal.

Thought you guys might enjoy this:

Full Link

SLAM BALL!!!

I kind of like this post on Wilner’s blog. It has to do with Wilner ranking MWC over Pac10 on the basis of the 1-5 record in head to head matchups:

Warren says:
January 9th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Speaking of a MWC-Pac-10 challenge (assuming neutral sites):

Utah/USC – Could be a great game, but USC would be favored
TCU/Oregon – TCU would be a slight favorite
BYU/OSU – OSU favored
Air Force/California – Cal favored
CSU/Arizona – UA favored
UNLV/ASU – Either a tossup or ASU a slight favorite, even though UNLV won the actual game at ASU
New Mexico/Stanford – Stanford favored
Wyoming/UCLA – Tossup
SDSU/WSU – One ugly game. Probably a tossup?

So in the nine matchups the MWC would be favored in one (maybe two) while the Pac-10 would be favored in probably five games with up to three games listed as a tossup. Jon, your points don’t look very strong.

Favorite quote:

My favorite moment came late in the game, when – just as it seemed Brennaman and Davis were ready to bronze Tebow on the spot – the saintly quarterback was flagged for taunting an Oklahoma player with one of those Gator chomp motions.

Out of curiosity, I checked in with the experts Friday morning: the Las Vegas Sports Consultants, who set the initial lines that are sent to the casino sportsbooks.

I wanted to know if they would favor Florida over all comers in all locations.

And the answer is yes, with one exception: The Trojans in SoCal.


Tony Sinisi, odds director of the LVSC, told me that if the Gators played USC in the Rose Bowl, the Trojans would open as a small favorite.

If the teams met on a true neutral field, "it would be pretty close to a pick ‘em," he added.

And if they played in Florida? The Gators would be favored by 1.5 or 2 points.

Nobody else, Sinisi said, would be better than a field goal underdog against the mighty Gators.

read more here.

Greatwood not taking Cal Poly job…I wonder if Tedford offers him the “Michalkdajsfkadfk Package” (OLine/asst head coach)…24 years and “OL CoY” sounds good to me. Plus, T-bred says he has expertise in non-spread offenses:

Former Portland State coach Tim Walsh will reportedly be introduced today as the new head coach at Cal Poly, which interviewed UO associate head coach Steve Greatwood for the position Tuesday.

"Whatever the circumstances were, it didn’t turn out my way," Greatwood said in a phone interview Thursday evening. "But that’s OK. I’ve got a good job already."

Greatwood recently completed his 24th season as an Oregon assistant. He will be honored as national offensive line coach of the year at next week’s American Football Coaches Association convention in Nashville.

JO’s an idiot too:

Of course, all the teams directly ahead of them can make good arguments to be ranked, as can Cal. The Bears did finish No. 25 in the final USA Today poll.

hey…do we have a “Director of Football Operations?” Like this guy that USC just hired?

some jackass didn’t vote for Rickey to make the HoF.

nice post on OskiTalk…it’s a bit optimistic but nice nonetheless.

Nellie mini-blowup:

-Q: How did Anthony Randolph play?

-NELSON: Very well.

-Q: Before the game you talked about him not being NBA-ready. Didn’t he look ready tonight?

-NELSON: Yeah, he did very well tonight.

-Q: Does that mean he might do well other nights?

-NELSON: Look it, I think what you guys need to do is just let me coach my team. Let me bring these guys along the way I see fit. That’s what they hired me for. And stop worrying about a 19-year-old kid.


Because you know what? It’s not good for him, either. Because he takes things for granted and he’s got to work his way in. He’s got work to do. He played well tonight. This is the way we expect him to play. This is the way we hope that he plays.
 
He’s been practicing like this for three days. And we’re going to take it and go with it. OK?

But he did very well. I’m proud of him.

Nobody’s rooting against this guy. We’re rooting for him. We want him to do well. But he needs to be coached, and we’re doing that.

Wheaton…he runs track

King

Spencer Hagan will walk-on at Cal (over Duke/‘furd/UCLA/N’western). Smart kid, had 52 catches an 980 yards.

interesting article on how the riot missed it’s mark…

A rider boycott would have struck the transit agency’s board of directors in a much more direct way than street guerrilla theater outside one of its stations followed by an assault on the city.

Protesters missed their intended targets this time and wound up beating up the wrong entity instead.

Don’t worry about it. At least once a month some poor, innocent soul in Oakland gets caught up and hurt – or killed – in random violence. We’re used to it – and thanks so much for dropping by.

Palin goes there…

“I’ve been interested to see how Caroline Kennedy will be handled and if she will be handled with kid gloves or if she will be under such a microscope,” Palin told conservative radio talk-show host and filmmaker John Ziegler. Clips from Ziegler’s interview were posted on YouTube this week.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out and I think that as we watch that we will perhaps be able to prove that there is a class issue here also that was such a factor in the scrutiny of my candidacy versus, say, the scrutiny of what her candidacy may be,” Palin said.

Damn where the hell is everyone today?

After winning my third NC and 4th BCS bowl with Cal in my NCAA2009 Football dynasty, I took a job offer (as Coach Tedford!) to be Notre Dame’s next head coach. Why would I leave, after 4 years? Well, I’ve prolly played like 30 seasons as Cal’s HC in my 08/09 dynasties. I was getting tired of getting 15 5-star and 10 4-star recruits every year. But even moreso, Iiked the idea of scheduling 12 regular season games. I also kinda like the fight song (don’t hate me), the simplicity of the stadium and unis (oh jesus), and the fact that not even Weis could bring them back. Plus, I kinda wanted to see if I could beat the team I formed, especially the Jesus in Cleats QB I created (Mike Pawlawski). This game is coming up next. I’ve scheduled 12 ranked opponents, with the highest ranking being # 18 and I’ve got a 6/6 home/road split. I’ve got the best SOS anywhere.

Has anyone ever left their dynasty team before? Also, how do I make it harder when I’ve mastered the game?

Well deserved.

I hate Florida. And if Tebow returns next year, can you imagine how bad it will be? Imagine the current dicksucking of Tim Tebow, combine it with the Fellating of the 2005 USC Trojans, and multiply by two.

Enjoy.

http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2009/01/09/season-review-offensive-linetight-ends/#more-2663

more on Corky

California’s public universities today halted all construction – on projects that are financed by bonds. Since the Student-Athlete High-Performance center is being privately financed, it is not affected. You can all step off the ledge now.

The announcement also said some high-ranking administrators might not get their bonuses this year. But that shouldn’t affect Jeff Tedford as he is technically faculty, not an administrator.

http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/category/football/

Wilner’s 2009 forecast

He’s got $C at 6, Oregon at 12, and Cal at 15:

15. Cal: All the Bears need is decent quarterback play (and a healthy fall for Jahvid Best), and they’ll have a first-rate season.

To me, this is a little weird. How could “first rate” be the Sun Bowl? I’m not so sure Oregon’s ahead of Cal at the end of 2009…

But Charles Ragland is now a Bear… He’s the 6’8 former basketball stud from Colordao who has only been playing ball for 2 years (1 year at LT, where he’s projected)

And it’s unofficial, but word on the Rivals board is that Steve Marshall (former Browns O-Line coach) has accepted the job… HUGE hire getting him over WAC or MWC coaches. Find the link to his bio in yesterday’s DBD. GREAT RESUME

Harbaugh’s status in limbo as recruits visit

ith approximately 30 recruits gathered on campus this weekend for official visits, Stanford football coach Jim Harbaugh has not signed his contract extension and there is an Internet report that he interviewed with the New York Jets on Thursday.

Harbaugh’s interview for the Jets head coaching job was reported on NationalFootballPost.com by analyst and co-founder Mike Lombardi. Harbaugh’s agent, Jack Bechta, is another co-founder of the Web site.