Well, here we are folks.  The last YTT before the start of the season.  We thought we'd take a look at our upcoming opponent, the Michigan State Spartans.  They are very similar to Cal in many ways, sort of the secondary team in the rivalry.  As Stanford gets much attention for historic success, so does Michigan.  And as we find ourselves consistently fearing failure, perhaps also so do MSUites.  I don't know, I've never met one. I'm sure they exist, somewhere.  Maybe.

But don't worry, Spartans, lest you think we are going to be mocking you and insulting your poor dental hygiene, let's make a peace offering in this form:

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This is the first in a series of 12 roundtable-style previews for the upcoming season.

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Game #1 : August 30 vs. Michigan State, 5:00 PM (televised on ABC).

ragnarok:  For the second straight year, Cal will host the season-opening edition of ABC's Saturday Night Football.  Last year's two-touchdown victory over Tennessee brought the Bears tons of media acclaim and vaulted them squarely into national title contention.  Though expectations for Cal (and their opponent) are decidedly less ambitious this year, it's still a prime-time opportunity to demonstrate to the nation that last year's collapse was just a hiccup in Cal's rise to national prominence -- if the Bears can win.

So, what are the Bear's chances of starting 2008 the same way they started 2007?  Well, here's a couple of encouraging trends:  Tedford's Bears are a perfect 6-0 in home openers, and they're a perfect 4-0 vs. Big 10 teams.  Sure, OK, one could quibble with the meaningfulness of such statistics, so here's a trend that might bear a little more weight (via Black Shoe Diaries):  since 1980, the Big 10's road winning percentage when playing a regular season game vs. the Pac-10 is a mere 22% -- 11 wins vs. 39 losses.  Even more startling is when you look at just matchups involving teams that finished the season with a winning record (as we all expect Cal to do), the Big 10's winning percentage drops to just 15% -- that's just 3 wins (against 17 losses) in the last 28 years.  There's lies, damn lies, and statistics, but that right there is a trend, and there's gotta be something substantial behind it.

Please, before I get to cocky, someone build up Michigan State.  Why might the Spartans buck these trends?

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