No practice today, so let's discuss the season!
Although odd year schedules are generally unfavorable (particularly THIS year's) compared to even year schedules, it's definitely the year to go out and take a detour away from Strawberry Canyon.
(Let's avoid including Palo Alto on this list because that trip is pretty much "slight Berkeley detour." Plus the only thing reasonable people do when they approach the Furd campus is to flee at all costs.)
Eugene (at Oregon, September 28). One of the true college town experiences on the west coast, the city bleeds for their ducks, and even more so now that Oregon is heading to bcs bowl games on a yearly basis. Nestled in the Pacific northwest, Oregon has become a fascinating case study in the college athletics arms race, and perusing their state of the art facilities only seems to reinforce that the rest of the conference will be playing catch up for as long as teenagers fork Hamiltons for Air Jordans.
However, this game was a lot more fun before the Ducks started flying all over the field, and now there's just too much potential for an ass-kicking to warrant a road trip up to Phil Knight's fiefdom. Might be best to stay at home unless you get a chance to dip in the hot tubs that Marcus Mariota cools down in after every six touchdown win...
Grade: 7.5/10
Los Angeles (at UCLA, October 12). The Rose Bowl! In October!
Los Angeles in October provides us with our only true experience of sunshine football, i.e. the true California experience. There's the chance to tailgate on a giant golf course. The Cal/UCLA matchup is always a pretty friendly environment between big and little brothers, and provides the only environment where it feels like the rivals are on a level playing field.
I would love this trip a lot more if Cal didn't find a way to lose everytime they came here in perplexing, heartbreaking fashion. But considering the alternative of South Central and that dreary visitors section in the Coliseum, I'll take Cal at UCLA everytime.
Grade: 9/10
Seattle (at Washington, October 26). One of the most fun places to visit in the conference, even if it almost always requires ponchos. Seattle is a great destination with plenty of picturesque locations, along with a wonderful downtown. Plus Washington remodeled their ancient stadium, so instead of being an inhospitable pit of misery, it's now a inhospitable beautiful stadium of potential horrordom.
Add in a winnable game with a revenge factor attached to it, and I'm all in here.
Grade: 9.5/10
Boulder (at Colorado, November 16). Quite possibly the best college town in the Pac-12, boulder provides plenty of entertainment and excitement.
You can go hiking and explore the outdoors. You can visit the bars and enjoy the college town atmosphere. You can revel in the fact that Boulder is the closest in temperament to Berkeley. And then you get to play in one of the raddest Saturday football experiences out there and watch Ralphie ride out on Folsom Field.
This is the most winnable road game on Cal's schedule, so this seems like the perfect road trip to take this season.
Grade: 10/10
Which road game would you pick and how would you rank them? Vote and comment!