Wilcox has done a good job training the lads to focus one game at a time. This conditioning should aid the team going into this game with Arizona. As was noted above, consistency is the key for Cal in this game. My expectation is that the D will dominate the cats with the Cal offense scoring 24 - 28 points for the win. Still hard to accept that this is a trap game but I feel Cal is maturing as a team and learning what it takes to win in this conference. There won't be a let down or look ahead to U$C.
Odd that Wazzu and Cal are both trending + late in the season; bit of a character change for these teams. U$C may actually be better on offense going forward. Wounded teams, at times, rally up and a relative unknown player(s) emerges that balances out the offense making a team that was once one dimensional multi-dimensional, perhaps just in time for the Cal game.
Perhaps we have gotten the mid-season swoon out of the way and are destined to make a bowl game. IIRC in recent years we usually start out at 3-1 or 4-1 with nonconference victories and occasionally a national ranking until we lose to teams like the Beavs and in general fade against Pac-12 competition only to rebound over the last few games.
"Destined" might be strong. I think Stanfurd is going to be tougher than people think (their struggles may be due to a tough schedule), so IF we beat Arizona and lose to Stanfurd, bowl eligibility would require sweeping the LA schools--which is still a tough task. But it would be nice to do this and get our first winning conference record since 2009 and first ever in the Pac-12.
And that's hard considering we match up terribly with UCLA, mainly in terms of style. A slow pro style offense (its been working though) against a blitzing, speed defense. Obviously we can't put too much stock into the 2020 game, but stylistically we can see the issues. I wouldn't be confident at all about a win in Pasadena.
I actually haven't watched too much of their film this year, but let's hope that with all the flak Azzinaro's been catching, his defense isn't able to keep up...
Your gaps are pretty reasonable. It's been tough this season not to implement similar gaps in my votes, but I just didn't want to introduce another layer of complexity.
Based on our emerging symmetry, I predict that the Bears will narrowly win at Arizona with some chaotic or last-minute play that will have all of us foretelling doom, prompting a slight drop to 8th. But fear not! A pair of wins in the weeks following will lock up bowl eligibility in the Big Game before entering uncharted territory against UCLA.
This wouldn't have been my dream scenario at the start of the season, but given where we were a few weeks ago, this wouldn't be a terrible way to end the season.
Wilcox has done a good job training the lads to focus one game at a time. This conditioning should aid the team going into this game with Arizona. As was noted above, consistency is the key for Cal in this game. My expectation is that the D will dominate the cats with the Cal offense scoring 24 - 28 points for the win. Still hard to accept that this is a trap game but I feel Cal is maturing as a team and learning what it takes to win in this conference. There won't be a let down or look ahead to U$C.
Odd that Wazzu and Cal are both trending + late in the season; bit of a character change for these teams. U$C may actually be better on offense going forward. Wounded teams, at times, rally up and a relative unknown player(s) emerges that balances out the offense making a team that was once one dimensional multi-dimensional, perhaps just in time for the Cal game.
Perhaps we have gotten the mid-season swoon out of the way and are destined to make a bowl game. IIRC in recent years we usually start out at 3-1 or 4-1 with nonconference victories and occasionally a national ranking until we lose to teams like the Beavs and in general fade against Pac-12 competition only to rebound over the last few games.
"Destined" might be strong. I think Stanfurd is going to be tougher than people think (their struggles may be due to a tough schedule), so IF we beat Arizona and lose to Stanfurd, bowl eligibility would require sweeping the LA schools--which is still a tough task. But it would be nice to do this and get our first winning conference record since 2009 and first ever in the Pac-12.
And that's hard considering we match up terribly with UCLA, mainly in terms of style. A slow pro style offense (its been working though) against a blitzing, speed defense. Obviously we can't put too much stock into the 2020 game, but stylistically we can see the issues. I wouldn't be confident at all about a win in Pasadena.
I actually haven't watched too much of their film this year, but let's hope that with all the flak Azzinaro's been catching, his defense isn't able to keep up...
Mine, before looking:
1. Oregon. Defense played a lousy game, but it didn't matter.
(gap not because the Ducks are so good but because everyone else is so meh)
(seriously there isn't much daylight between #2 and #10 here)
2. Utah. Got beav'd last week, bounced back with solid win. All 4 P12 wins are by 11+.
3. ASU. Sucked again, kept turning it over. They still have decisive win over UCLA.
4. UCLA. Have been blown out by both Utah and ASU now.
5. Oregon State. Flat after Utah win? Bears punked them in every phase.
6. Wazzu. Good bounceback from BYU loss. Could easily be higher.
7. Cal. Would probably be #2 considering only the last 3 weeks. Still got rekt at home by Wazzu.
8. Washington. Fortunately for them, Furd can't run. Offense again did just enough at the end.
9. Furd. Huskies are not the ideal opponent for an all-pass, no-run team.
10. SC. Giving up 34 points to Cats is not a good sign.
11. Colorado. Offense finally came to life, but D allowed 51 points on just 9 possessions.
12. Zona. Nearly doubled their previous high score, but still came up short.
Oops, there should be a gap between SC and Colorado and another one between Colorado and Arizona.
Should be a gap BEFORE Oregon IMO
Your gaps are pretty reasonable. It's been tough this season not to implement similar gaps in my votes, but I just didn't want to introduce another layer of complexity.
Based on our emerging symmetry, I predict that the Bears will narrowly win at Arizona with some chaotic or last-minute play that will have all of us foretelling doom, prompting a slight drop to 8th. But fear not! A pair of wins in the weeks following will lock up bowl eligibility in the Big Game before entering uncharted territory against UCLA.
This wouldn't have been my dream scenario at the start of the season, but given where we were a few weeks ago, this wouldn't be a terrible way to end the season.
We better beat Arizona if we want a bowl game. Because I just checked and the last time we beat SC, UCLA and furd in the same year was 1958.
If we can't beat Arizona we don't deserve to be in a bowl game.
Is Chip Kelly going to be coaching UCLA next year?