As Lee Corso has famously said, "Not so fast, my friend." Your presumption is that Cal will lose to Notre Dame and beat Arizona, Washington State and Colorado to get to that 5-1 mark. There is a little stop in Pullman in early October that will likely prevent that. The hype is building around Cameron Ward, WSU's transfer quarterback, and Cal looked silly and weak at home against the Cougars last year. More than a few people are saying that WSU will be the surprise team of the North this year. I am penciling in an L on that road trip using the presumption that a really good WSU offense will cancel out Cal's pretty good defense and likely mediocre offense.
Appreciate the historical comparisons. No scrimmage reports until several days after it feels really disappointing for those like me waiting for all news and tidbits with eagerness. I'm going to stop being a broken record on this, but I've been genuinely checking multiple times a day and disappointed to see nothing on it.
The guys writing these articles are all doing it on a volunteer basis, and you're still getting premium content including lots of really good midseason analysis. They aren't paid journalists, they have other jobs and are sharing the load to bring in good content (even if it's a little late). They made it clear when there was a paid version of the site that funding would be to provide for upkeep of the website and other logistics, not paychecks into their pockets. I know some delays are frustrating but it's likely to happen again, so please don't post this kind of thing over and over – and again, you're still getting extra content including really good game analysis, recruiting analysis, and off-season content.
I know all this and have said as much in prior posts. It's all true. My only disappointment is the occurrence and timing of posts, not the quality, and I believe as one of the oldest members of this and prior versions of a Cal forum it is appropriate for me to share my concerns. I have nothing but the highest appreciation for the volunteers past and present who bring Cal sports to life for us. They have a special place in the Bear heaven for sure. The rub is the need to pay for what was once free because of the ads or whatever that were part of the CGB days. To end, I've made myself clear and don't need to speak on this again.
About normal. Seems generous, as the offense is over-rated, the defense will be better than expected, and the depth deficiencies will be under-accounted, just as has been the case for several years.
Did you get these backwards? The offense is ranked #125 (bottom 10), the defense is #25. I think Cal is a safe bet to do significantly better than expected on offense. The people who make these rankings are mainly just looking at the returning production stat, and aren't evaluating the talent that is wholesale replacing what was a mediocre/bad offense to begin with (addition by subtraction). If the offensive line holds up, there could be something nice building here this season (pending the B1G/conference situation, of course..)
Decent chance we’ll be 5-1 at the halfway point, and in the Top25.
As Lee Corso has famously said, "Not so fast, my friend." Your presumption is that Cal will lose to Notre Dame and beat Arizona, Washington State and Colorado to get to that 5-1 mark. There is a little stop in Pullman in early October that will likely prevent that. The hype is building around Cameron Ward, WSU's transfer quarterback, and Cal looked silly and weak at home against the Cougars last year. More than a few people are saying that WSU will be the surprise team of the North this year. I am penciling in an L on that road trip using the presumption that a really good WSU offense will cancel out Cal's pretty good defense and likely mediocre offense.
It's up to Cal to prove the pundits are wrong.
Decent chance Chase Garbers stays on the Raiders' roster. He has played reasonably well with the scrubs, and the Raiders just traded Nick Mullens.
Good to hear he is doing well. But its bad news for Cal if our mediocre-at-best offense been led by an NFL-caliber QB the last few years.
That's exactly what ran through my head.
Appreciate the historical comparisons. No scrimmage reports until several days after it feels really disappointing for those like me waiting for all news and tidbits with eagerness. I'm going to stop being a broken record on this, but I've been genuinely checking multiple times a day and disappointed to see nothing on it.
The guys writing these articles are all doing it on a volunteer basis, and you're still getting premium content including lots of really good midseason analysis. They aren't paid journalists, they have other jobs and are sharing the load to bring in good content (even if it's a little late). They made it clear when there was a paid version of the site that funding would be to provide for upkeep of the website and other logistics, not paychecks into their pockets. I know some delays are frustrating but it's likely to happen again, so please don't post this kind of thing over and over – and again, you're still getting extra content including really good game analysis, recruiting analysis, and off-season content.
I know all this and have said as much in prior posts. It's all true. My only disappointment is the occurrence and timing of posts, not the quality, and I believe as one of the oldest members of this and prior versions of a Cal forum it is appropriate for me to share my concerns. I have nothing but the highest appreciation for the volunteers past and present who bring Cal sports to life for us. They have a special place in the Bear heaven for sure. The rub is the need to pay for what was once free because of the ads or whatever that were part of the CGB days. To end, I've made myself clear and don't need to speak on this again.
https://www3.forbes.com/leadership/americas-top-50-colleges-2021-vue/51/
Forbes has us at #1
About normal. Seems generous, as the offense is over-rated, the defense will be better than expected, and the depth deficiencies will be under-accounted, just as has been the case for several years.
Did you get these backwards? The offense is ranked #125 (bottom 10), the defense is #25. I think Cal is a safe bet to do significantly better than expected on offense. The people who make these rankings are mainly just looking at the returning production stat, and aren't evaluating the talent that is wholesale replacing what was a mediocre/bad offense to begin with (addition by subtraction). If the offensive line holds up, there could be something nice building here this season (pending the B1G/conference situation, of course..)
Well, we can love academic rankings
I remember in 2000s when there were AP Polls and Coaches Polls.. I think they discontinued in 2010s.