Golden Nuggets: Cal-Arizona Predictions

Time for another Prediction Thursday.  While last week featured an almost-unanimous pick for Cal, this week everyone (and I mean everyone) picks Cal to lose.

Uncle Ted predicts a close one in Tuscon:

Arizona 28, California 24: I wouldn't be surprised if the Wildcats -- still high on their win over Iowa -- starts slowly while Cal -- still peeved about their game at Nevada -- comes out on fire. But the Wildcats will assert themselves in the second half as the 'Zona Zoo gets motivated.

Bruce Feldman also predicts a narrow Arizona victory.  Shane Vereen and the Cal D will have strong performances but "the 'Cats' offense will make one more play than Cal" as Arizona holds onto a 31-28 win.

ESPN's AccuScore ran 10,000 simulations of the Cal-Arizona game.  Cal won 37.2% of the time (pretty close to the report card predictions of 39.1%!).  The average score was 29.2 for Arizona and 24.1 for Cal.  ESPN predicts Foles will have a big day as he averages 288.2 yards, 1.6 TDs, and 1 interception.  Riley, meanwhile, averages 179.2 yards, 1.3 TDs, and 1 interception.

John Tamahana predicts a 34-24 Arizona victory.  Though his intuition tells him Cal will bounce back and Arizona will suffer a letdown, he says Arizona's stout run defense and Kevin Riley's inconsistency will limit Cal's chances to notch the upset.

All four of Yahoo's writers (and 97% of readers) predict an Arizona victory.

All five CBS writers predict an Arizona victory.

This all sounds a lot like last year's Arizona predictions, and we all know how that one turned out...

After the jump Cal makes an appearance in ESPN's Bottom Ten, the Pac-12 considers sites for the championship game, the Fresno State matchup nears finalization, MSG anticipates more playing time this week, and several outlets predict the 2010-2011 basketball season.

Football

• Cal's defense has earned the Bears a spot in ESPN's bottom ten.
• Mohamed still hadn't returned to practice as of Wednesday.  Thankfully, he practiced in full capacity on Thursday.  Also, the Fresno State matchup is reportedly close to being finalized.
• Jon Wilner previews the game, including matchups between Cal's secondary and Arizona's passing attack and the Wildcats' mental battle to avoid a letdown.
• Rivals interviews Arizona beat writer Jason Nimrichter, who provides insight into what Cal fans should watch for in Saturday's game.  Scout, er, scouts out the opponent while highlighting key matchups and providing some interesting facts.
• Offensive line coach Steve Marshall talks about the O-line taking on one of its biggest challenges all season.  Matt Summers-Gavin should see much more playing time this week.  
• Riley's seniority and a possible Arizona letdown are two items in Ted Miller's "What to Watch" this week.
• Glendale, Las Vegas, Seattle, and LA are possible sites for the Pac-12 championship game.  Pac-10 athletic directors will meet October 6th and 7th to discuss details of the Pac-12 (including how to divide the conference).
• Cal is 9th in Wilner's Pac-10 ratings.  9th.  Worse than ASU, worse than UCLA, worse than Washington. lolwut 
• Shane Vereen is rising while Cal is falling in Ted Miller's Pac-10 stock report.  That's the opposite of last week when the defense was rising while Vereen was trending downward.
• Cal's offensive line will have its hands full with Arizona defensive ends Brooks Reed and Ricky Elmore.
• Daily Cal checks in on Bears in the NFL: this week they look at Aaron Rodgers, Tyson Alualu, and Nick Sundberg.