The Pac-12 media have made their annual preseason predictions for the football season, calling for the Golden Bears to finish third in the Pac-12 North (with no first-place votes).

The two divisional favorites are perennial winners Oregon and USC with the former winning the championship games. The Bears were picked to finish behind two Northern foes whom we’ve beaten the last time we faced (2020 vs. Oregon and 2019 vs. Washington) and ahead of our archrivals, the villainous Stanfurd. Down in the South, embattled California alumnus Herm Edwards has Arizona State ranked third with six first-place votes; the South in general is more contentious than the North, with four teams earning first-place votes.

Mike Saffell leads the Bears in All-Pac-12 honors with his place on the second team; unfortunately, Saffell announced his medical retirement just a few days ago. In a shocker for the Wilcox era, no defensive Bears were placed on the first or second teams, but the basically-officially-returning Luc Bequette, Kuony Deng, the Bednarik-watch-listing Cam Goode, and Takers Elijah Hicks and Josh Drayden all earned honorable mention.

Edit: In an earlier draft, I overlooked two of our honorably mentioned Bears. Sorry for the oversight!

Write For California

Pac-12 Media Days: California picked third in…