So… I just published the reasons why Notre Dame should make the decision to not accept any bowl invitation this year, and then I see they did IN FACT decide to opt out.
The ACC made a strategic error by promoting Miami over Notre Dame. If they were uncomfortable with promoting ND over the U, then they should have considered promoting BOTH teams for inclusion in the CFP.
Cal really got itself hooked in with an amateur hour operation. And we're not getting media rights revenue for another 5 years? Hello?
I guess they should have promoted both, but the fact is that Miami getting into a major playoff game pays off the rest of the conference and Notre Dame getting one does not. ND keeps all of that money themselves. So why should they expect the ACC to go to bat for them?
EDIT: I think it is stupid of the ACC to make the comparison between Miami and ND when ND is an associate member to the ACC in all sports except football and the ACC gets 5 football dates with ND each year. If you want ND to join your conference, you should try to avoid running them down as the social media post did. Now, all you've done is piss them off. Now, ND is more likely to join the Big Ten if they join a conference at all.
ORIGINAL POST
The ACC should at least NOT have denigrated Notre Dame. Reason being that Notre Dame is an associate ACC member. Notre Dame is fully integrated into the ACC in all other sports.
Quite frankly, I'm not sure if ND can end their agreement with the ACC. But there was a symbiosis (such as it is) for both parties with regards to football: Notre Dame gets to fill out its schedule, and 5 ACC teams can help fill in their schedules with a game against Notre Dame. Not perfect, but not bad, either.
The conferences are too large, anyhow. I think we're finding that the ideal size is probably 12 to 14 teams. Notre Dame shouldn't have preferential treatment; they should align themselves with a conference and the rules should be fashioned to help them do that.
The CFP snub should be incentive for ND to find a conference, but as Tangtpt points out, ND gets the benefit of not being in a conference if it is a Top 10 team at the end of the regular season. I think FBS football is stronger with ND as part of a conference, not as an independent.
This won't last for long. As I understand it, ND automatically gets in to the playoff simply if it gets ranked in the top 10 beginning next year. Must be nice...
They're acting out of anger and I don't blame them. Their exclusion is just one glaring example of how ridiculous this play off situation is. What a joke.
The committee is making a hash of the system. If Duke wins the ACC but can't crack the CFP while Miami can, it doesn't say much about the integrity of the selection process.
EDIT: I also think that the process by which Duke got into the ACC Championship Game over Miami and 3 other teams needs to be reviewed. It doesn't really make sense that a team with a 7-5 overall record can leapfrog a team with a 10-2 overall record. Make it make sense.
Yeah, the Duke situation is really more a problem with ACC tiebreakers than it is with the committee. The conference needs to fix that. IMO once you are past direct head-to-head comparisons the next thing should be that the highest ranked team goes. You can't mess around with playoff berths, and the conferences are so big now that trying to break ties based on "common opponents" or whatever is pointless.
The Las Vegas Raiders are hosting the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Here is everything to need to know about the game and Silver and Black is here at Allegiant Stadium for it all:
If you had no hope for the Golden State Warriors to win even one game in their weekend back-to-back, then no one would blame you. They had to face an Eastern Conference favorite in the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road on Saturday, without Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler III, Al Horford, or De’Anthony Melton. They had to get back in action less than 24 hours later on the road against a game Chicago Bulls team, with only Butler and Melton returning from the infirmary.
The California women's basketball team opened the game on an 11-0 run and didn't look back for its most dominant victory of the season in a 92-42 win over San Jose State at Haas Pavilion on Sunday afternoon. The win marked the Golden Bears' (7-3) third straight over the Spartans (0-8) and their 17th straight nonconference victory at home dating back to the 2023-24 season.
God is Good. Mahalo to #CoachLup for coming to visit me and my family in HI. I believe in Cal and what this football program is capable of. #ComeToCal #GoBears #SmartAndTough
BERKELEY - California quarterback and freshman All-American candidate Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele announced Saturday that he will stay at Cal and will be with the Golden Bears moving forward.
JKS is probably a better qb than Mendoza when all is said and done. Yeah, feeling sunshine, while the phenomenal season Fernando has had this year results in him going to the Rose Bowl. After the nearly sixty years I’ve pined for a Cal RB invite, he leaves and gets one in Year One. The agony.
I mean, it would have been better to keep Mendoza (plus all the skill position talent) for this season and have JKS locked and loaded for the future, but I don't think our previous staff was up to it. Maybe in the Tosh Lupoi era we won't have this kind of issue anymore.
If we had Mendoza and a handful of WRs and RBs then maybe we win two more games so that's 9-3. Very impressive. Even with Wilcox. But that means Wilcox is here to stay. I think it turned out to be a good thing for Cal.
Yes, but that's the thing: Wilcox wasn't able to hold on to those guys. He wasn't a strong recruiter either (I think these two issues are part of the same problem with his leadership). If he were stronger than that then we probably would have had 9 wins before now anyway.
So basically, it worked out as it had to with a guy like Wilcox at the helm.
MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 6 California women's swimming & diving team closed out the Minnesota Invitational on Saturday by sweeping every race to win the overall team event. The Golden Bears finished in first place in every 'A' final this weekend.
Cal led the pack with 1,874 points followed by the host Golden Gophers (1,616.5) in second, Harvard (1352) in third, Denver (867.5) in fourth, Rutgers (811) in fifth, and UNLV (584.5) in sixth.
MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 6 California men's swimming & diving team recorded some of the fastest times in the nation this season and the Golden Bears cruised to the team title at the Minnesota Invitational on Saturday.
Sophomore Yamato Okadome had his second consecutive big night in Minneapolis, improving his personal-best time in winning the 200-yard breaststroke in 1:50.04 – the fourth-fastest time in program history and in the nation this season. Okadome registered the second-best mark at Cal in the 100 breaststroke on Friday at 50.48.
BERKELEY -- The California men's basketball team pinned up its fifth straight win by fending off Pacific for a 67-61 victory today, keeping the Golden Bears perfect at Haas Pavilion this season. Four Bears hit double digits while the defense made the stops it needed to improve Cal to 8-1 overall. The Tigers are now 7-3 overall.
PORTLAND, Ore. – Decorated California cross country and track & field alumnus Garrett MacQuiddy achieved yet another milestone Saturday on one of the nation's biggest stages, earning a bronze medal at the USA Track & Field (USATF) Cross Country Championships with a time of 5:33.6. By merit of his third-place finish, MacQuiddy will be an alternate for Team USA at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in the mixed 4x2k relay, which will be held in Tallahassee, Florida, on Jan. 10.
BOSTON – California track & field junior Justin Pretre opened the indoor season for the Golden Bears in fine fashion at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, starting off slow but kicking into another gear to close out his heat of the men's 3000m to finish in 7:56.30 with a final 200m split of 29.26. Pretre's finish was good for ninth out of 130 total runners who competed in the open section.
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
I'm taking my ball and I'm going home.
Notre Dame officially announces it is not playing in a bowl game
https://www.onefootdown.com/notre-dame-fighting-irish-football/79612/notre-dame-officially-announces-it-is-not-playing-in-a-bowl-game-projections-news
So… I just published the reasons why Notre Dame should make the decision to not accept any bowl invitation this year, and then I see they did IN FACT decide to opt out.
The ACC made a strategic error by promoting Miami over Notre Dame. If they were uncomfortable with promoting ND over the U, then they should have considered promoting BOTH teams for inclusion in the CFP.
Cal really got itself hooked in with an amateur hour operation. And we're not getting media rights revenue for another 5 years? Hello?
I guess they should have promoted both, but the fact is that Miami getting into a major playoff game pays off the rest of the conference and Notre Dame getting one does not. ND keeps all of that money themselves. So why should they expect the ACC to go to bat for them?
EDIT: I think it is stupid of the ACC to make the comparison between Miami and ND when ND is an associate member to the ACC in all sports except football and the ACC gets 5 football dates with ND each year. If you want ND to join your conference, you should try to avoid running them down as the social media post did. Now, all you've done is piss them off. Now, ND is more likely to join the Big Ten if they join a conference at all.
ORIGINAL POST
The ACC should at least NOT have denigrated Notre Dame. Reason being that Notre Dame is an associate ACC member. Notre Dame is fully integrated into the ACC in all other sports.
Quite frankly, I'm not sure if ND can end their agreement with the ACC. But there was a symbiosis (such as it is) for both parties with regards to football: Notre Dame gets to fill out its schedule, and 5 ACC teams can help fill in their schedules with a game against Notre Dame. Not perfect, but not bad, either.
The conferences are too large, anyhow. I think we're finding that the ideal size is probably 12 to 14 teams. Notre Dame shouldn't have preferential treatment; they should align themselves with a conference and the rules should be fashioned to help them do that.
The CFP snub should be incentive for ND to find a conference, but as Tangtpt points out, ND gets the benefit of not being in a conference if it is a Top 10 team at the end of the regular season. I think FBS football is stronger with ND as part of a conference, not as an independent.
This won't last for long. As I understand it, ND automatically gets in to the playoff simply if it gets ranked in the top 10 beginning next year. Must be nice...
Crap like this is why people resent ND, and despise the kangaroo committee too. Glad I don’t have to see ND on a field for the rest of this year.
They're acting out of anger and I don't blame them. Their exclusion is just one glaring example of how ridiculous this play off situation is. What a joke.
The committee is making a hash of the system. If Duke wins the ACC but can't crack the CFP while Miami can, it doesn't say much about the integrity of the selection process.
EDIT: I also think that the process by which Duke got into the ACC Championship Game over Miami and 3 other teams needs to be reviewed. It doesn't really make sense that a team with a 7-5 overall record can leapfrog a team with a 10-2 overall record. Make it make sense.
Yeah, the Duke situation is really more a problem with ACC tiebreakers than it is with the committee. The conference needs to fix that. IMO once you are past direct head-to-head comparisons the next thing should be that the highest ranked team goes. You can't mess around with playoff berths, and the conferences are so big now that trying to break ties based on "common opponents" or whatever is pointless.
I'm surprised how many ND fans are agreeing that this is a good idea.
ND has a long history of refusing bowl games when they had a disappointing season.
If only we could consider 10-2 a disappointing season.
They don't need the money, righteous rage will bring in more cash, ND is its own thing-- their entire brand.
PRO
Las Vegas Raiders lose another lopsided game, have dropped 7 straight
https://www.silverandblackpride.com/las-vegas-raiders-game-information/116881/las-vegas-raiders-lose-another-lopsided-game-have-dropped-7-straight
The Las Vegas Raiders are hosting the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Here is everything to need to know about the game and Silver and Black is here at Allegiant Stadium for it all:
Sharks beat the Hurricane 4-1. Celebrini looking like a star.
Warriors put on a show in blowout win over Bulls
https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/warriors-scores-results/106004/warriors-bulls-recap-blowout-quinten-post-pat-spencer-jimmy-butler-iii
If you had no hope for the Golden State Warriors to win even one game in their weekend back-to-back, then no one would blame you. They had to face an Eastern Conference favorite in the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road on Saturday, without Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler III, Al Horford, or De’Anthony Melton. They had to get back in action less than 24 hours later on the road against a game Chicago Bulls team, with only Butler and Melton returning from the infirmary.
Cal
HAG shows up in Rome wearing some good Cal gear
Go Bears.
My usual flying gear is a Cal shirt, Cal sweatshirt, and Cal hat.
[WBB] Bears Bash The Spartans
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/7/womens-basketball-bears-bash-the-spartans.aspx
The California women's basketball team opened the game on an 11-0 run and didn't look back for its most dominant victory of the season in a 92-42 win over San Jose State at Haas Pavilion on Sunday afternoon. The win marked the Golden Bears' (7-3) third straight over the Spartans (0-8) and their 17th straight nonconference victory at home dating back to the 2023-24 season.
This was much needed as a palette cleanser, following the Bears late flubs that resulted in the heartbreaking loss vs. Missouri.
At least we have one QB that is committing to stay.
https://x.com/JaronKeawe/status/1997329965088379358
Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele
@JaronKeawe
God is Good. Mahalo to #CoachLup for coming to visit me and my family in HI. I believe in Cal and what this football program is capable of. #ComeToCal #GoBears #SmartAndTough
[FB] Sagapolutele Confirms Commitment To Cal Football
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/6/sagapolutele-confirms-commitment-to-cal-football.aspx
BERKELEY - California quarterback and freshman All-American candidate Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele announced Saturday that he will stay at Cal and will be with the Golden Bears moving forward.
JKS is probably a better qb than Mendoza when all is said and done. Yeah, feeling sunshine, while the phenomenal season Fernando has had this year results in him going to the Rose Bowl. After the nearly sixty years I’ve pined for a Cal RB invite, he leaves and gets one in Year One. The agony.
I understand the want, the desire, the yearning.
But if retaining Mendoza means that Cal can't turn the page on Wilcox, then I'm waving Fernando goodbye with no regrets.
There is a limit with Wilcox that precludes anything like a Rose Bowl. Fernando wouldn't change that.
I mean, it would have been better to keep Mendoza (plus all the skill position talent) for this season and have JKS locked and loaded for the future, but I don't think our previous staff was up to it. Maybe in the Tosh Lupoi era we won't have this kind of issue anymore.
If we had Mendoza and a handful of WRs and RBs then maybe we win two more games so that's 9-3. Very impressive. Even with Wilcox. But that means Wilcox is here to stay. I think it turned out to be a good thing for Cal.
Yes, but that's the thing: Wilcox wasn't able to hold on to those guys. He wasn't a strong recruiter either (I think these two issues are part of the same problem with his leadership). If he were stronger than that then we probably would have had 9 wins before now anyway.
So basically, it worked out as it had to with a guy like Wilcox at the helm.
All we really needed was a kicker the last couple of years. Last year with Bhaghani and I think cal is 9-3.
True.
I hope we can have it all, at the same time.
QB, WR, RB, TE, OL, K, P.
And of course defense.
In Tosh we trust.
Yep, Lupoi approaches this with palpable intent to be the ultimate “no stone unturned” operator.
[WSWIM] No. 6 Cal Sweeps Minnesota Invite
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/6/womens-swimming-diving-no-6-cal-sweeps-minnesota-invite.aspx
MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 6 California women's swimming & diving team closed out the Minnesota Invitational on Saturday by sweeping every race to win the overall team event. The Golden Bears finished in first place in every 'A' final this weekend.
Cal led the pack with 1,874 points followed by the host Golden Gophers (1,616.5) in second, Harvard (1352) in third, Denver (867.5) in fourth, Rutgers (811) in fifth, and UNLV (584.5) in sixth.
[MSWIM] No. 6 Bears Win Title At Minnesota Invitational
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/6/mens-swimming-diving-no-6-bears-win-title-at-minnesota-invitational.aspx
MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 6 California men's swimming & diving team recorded some of the fastest times in the nation this season and the Golden Bears cruised to the team title at the Minnesota Invitational on Saturday.
Sophomore Yamato Okadome had his second consecutive big night in Minneapolis, improving his personal-best time in winning the 200-yard breaststroke in 1:50.04 – the fourth-fastest time in program history and in the nation this season. Okadome registered the second-best mark at Cal in the 100 breaststroke on Friday at 50.48.
[MBB] Cal Tops Pacific For Fifth Straight Win
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/6/mens-basketball-cal-tops-pacific-for-fifth-straight-win.aspx
BERKELEY -- The California men's basketball team pinned up its fifth straight win by fending off Pacific for a 67-61 victory today, keeping the Golden Bears perfect at Haas Pavilion this season. Four Bears hit double digits while the defense made the stops it needed to improve Cal to 8-1 overall. The Tigers are now 7-3 overall.
[XC] MacQuiddy Qualifies For World XC Champs As Alternate
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/6/cross-country-macquiddy-qualifies-for-world-xc-champs-as-alternate.aspx
PORTLAND, Ore. – Decorated California cross country and track & field alumnus Garrett MacQuiddy achieved yet another milestone Saturday on one of the nation's biggest stages, earning a bronze medal at the USA Track & Field (USATF) Cross Country Championships with a time of 5:33.6. By merit of his third-place finish, MacQuiddy will be an alternate for Team USA at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in the mixed 4x2k relay, which will be held in Tallahassee, Florida, on Jan. 10.
[T&F] Pretre Finishes 9th Of 130 In Boston
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/6/track-field-pretre-finishes-ninth-of-130-in-boston.aspx
BOSTON – California track & field junior Justin Pretre opened the indoor season for the Golden Bears in fine fashion at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, starting off slow but kicking into another gear to close out his heat of the men's 3000m to finish in 7:56.30 with a final 200m split of 29.26. Pretre's finish was good for ninth out of 130 total runners who competed in the open section.
[FB] "Inside Cal Football" Ep. 12 (12.4.2025)
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/6/-inside-cal-football-ep-12-12-4-2025.aspx