Want some extra optimism heading into Saturday's game? Look at these numbers Jeff Faraudo and Chris Murray dug up.
According to a blog item from Chris Murray of the Reno Gazette-Journal, the Wolfpack is 0-10 in season openers against teams from BCS conferences (plus Notre Dame), dating back to 1992, when it became an FBS team.
Nevada has lost those games by an average margin of 30.2 points, and its offense has produced a paltry 13.1 points per game in those outings. None of the 10 games was closer than 14 points.
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Here are scores from those 10 openers:2011: Oregon, 69, Nevada 202009: Notre Dame 35, Nevada 02007: Nebraska 52, Nevada 102005: Washington 55, Nevada 21*2002: Washington State 31, Nevada 72000: Oregon 36, Nevada 71999: Oregon State 28, Nevada 13*1998: Oregon State 48, Nevada 61996: Oregon 44, Nevada 301993: Wisconsin 35, Nevada 17* – indicates a home game
Of course, Oregon State is famous for doing the same thing. And Oregon State has an extremely favorable recent history against us. Does this mean we're actually doomed? Eh, probably not.
Cal has named Dr. Phil Esten as the new Executive Associated AD for Advancement. He will be in charge of advancement (i.e. funding) efforts for all 29 sports as well as developing a multi-year plan for expanding the breadth and depth of the university's donor base.
Football
- EveryDayShouldBeSaturday is running a series to determine which is the best college football team to root for based off a single play. Cal is third with--you guessed it--The Play.
- SFGate has a great article on the handful of Bears who are following in their fathers' footsteps at Cal.
- USA Today has the most ridiculous ranking of Pac-12 Stadiums I have ever seen. Cal is 9th despite the fact that no one has yet experienced a game in the renovated Memorial Stadium. Stanford somehow placed 5th. You know what, don't even click on that link.
- J.P. Hurrell and Robert Mullins are on Athlon Sports' list of the Pac-12's pivotal players.
- Cal held another successful Fan Appreciation Day. Here's a photo gallery from the event.
- CalBears.com has some fun facts about the newly renovated Memorial Stadium. Highlights: it required 50,000 cubic feet of concrete and 14 million pounds of steel, the new seating capacity is 63,186, kitchens allow food to be cooked on site for the first time, and the stadium now hosts 90 new parking spaces...for bicycles.
- Uncle Ted looks ahead to this week in the Pac-12 schedule.
- Cal is 6th in Uncle Ted's Week 1 power rankings.
- Uncle Ted makes some fearless Pac-12 season predictions. Two are Cal-relevant: Cal, UW, or UCLA will win 9 games (only one, however); also, Cal is among the Pac-12 teams whose defense could finish among the top-25 nationwide.
- Pac-12 games to watch this season: Oregon at Cal was 5th in the top-5 rankings. The Big Game and Cal-Ohio State game barely missed the cut.
- Tedford and his team acknowledge that the renovated Memorial Stadium was rebuilt to sustain a high-caliber team, one better than we've seen over the past two seasons.
- Faraudo has a series of short previews of the Bears' season. First, he has a best-case/worst-case for the Bears. Next he highlights some returning stars and the new players who will make an immediate impact. Finally, he highlights three big games this season: at Ohio State, the Big Game, and vs. UW.
- Stewart Mandel has a full slate of bowl predictions. Cal is predicted to head to the
Kraft Fight HungerEmerald Bowl to face Navy. For whatever reason, this is always the default bowl prediction for Cal and Navy. I don't know how many bowl predictions I've read over the past few years that feature Cal and Navy in San Francisco... - Did you see the final episode of Cal Football's "Back in Berkeley" series of training camp videos?