SB Nation User Blog: Avinash

Cal Sports Recruiting Thread: December 2009

Avinash — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:54:22 -0000

Solarise has been doing fine yeoman's work on this front. Highly commendable, big ups to him!

TrojanNYC blog reported that $C is leading in the recruitment of George Uko, DT (Chino, CA) followed by UCLA.

The departure of LSU running back coach Larry Porter to Memphis is having a negative impact on the recruiting of Lache Seastrunk, RB (Temple, TX). Perhaps coach Gould should sweep in and work his magic…

Chris Fetters of Scout reported that Micah Hatchie, OT (Waialua, HI) had an incredible visit to UW. He was seen hanging out with another Hawaiian and Huskies commit Taz Stevenson. Hatchie still wants to officially visit Oregon, Cal and Hawai’i before making his final decision.
Washington, Oregon and Hawai’i were mentioned by Hatchie as being high risers on his recruiting list. Those are the schools that are going to the top right now.

Greg Biggins reported on Paul Richardson, WR (Gardena, CA) and his visit to ASU over the weekend.

"ASU was a great visit, there wasn’t a single negative about it," Richardson said. "I got to spend a lot of time with Coach (Dennis) Erickson and that was really a highlight for me. He’s a solid guy and very genuine."

"I want to take a few more trips with Shaq so I’m looking at Arizona and UCLA," Richardson said. "I also like Cal and Nebraska and would like to visit both of those as well."

Kenny Stills, WR (Carlsbad, CA) is down to his final six schools: Cal, UCLA, Oklahoma, Florida, Miami and Michigan. Stills is targeting Dec 11 or Dec 18 to announce his decision on local TV in San Diego.

– Greg Biggins, ESPN

From chowder:

Three-star wide receiver Tevin Carter (Los Angeles/Santee) made an unofficial visit to check out the hometown USC Trojans but is still a solid commitment to Cal, ESPN affiliate Web site BearInsider.com reports.

Finally, a Moraga Bear update!

Regarding King, I know he’s still talking about Cal like they’re his top choice. Whether or not his fb status means anything, I’m not sure at this point. But, as I mentioned earlier, a similar fb status about Cal last June didn’t mean anything so I wouldn’t put to much stock in this one.

Personally, I wouldn’t want to be in Oregon’s position. No single recruit is worth the potential of a major recruiting violation and when an Oregon alum/former player/booster provides housing for a player in his school’s backyard, that’s crying out for trouble. I’m aware of at least one or two schools that will strongly pursue major sanctions against Oregon if he commits there and one’s not Cal. They say they "cleared it" with the NCAA, but I wouldn’t sleep easy on that one.

Contrary to what some are saying, Cal’s recruiting is going strong right now. They lost Ward and James to UCLA and a few others that were offered but not Plan A guys, but they’re in strong with a lot of top recruits and will host a ton of them Dec. 11, including Kouandjio, his teammates Johnson and Coley, Gayden, Ferguson, Whitaker, Martin, Gore, Werner, possibly Stills and Briggs and a few others, plus current commits Crosthwaite, Hinder, Harper and another one or two.

I’ve indicated for months that commits weren’t likely until late in the recruiting process because almost all their top remaining targets had no intention of committing early and wanted to take bunch of visits.

This is a different type of recruiting cycle than Cal usually is involved in but, just as all the early strong commits didn’t mean the class would be stocked with top players and be wrapped up early, so does the lull during the season not mean things are going poorly.

By design, there was to be one big recruiting game during the season, which, despite the loss was actually a pretty strong visit with a lot of the recruits. There then was to be one big recruiting weekend during bowl prep and that’s what’s happening in a couple weeks. Things will almost definitely pick up then.

More BCS Travesty: TCU and Cincinnati Are As Deserving As Texas

Avinash — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:42:38 -0000

More photos » by Brant Sanderlin - AP

The Tide would be worthy national champions. But what if Alabama falls? Who is deserving then?

Browse more photos »

I think most of us can say if that Alabama beats Texas, we'd probably be satisfied with the Tide being national champs. Alabama wins the numbers battle; it has the best scoring defense in the country, the second best rushing defense in the country, the best passer rating defense in the country, a top 15 rushing offense, a top 35 passing offense. More importantly, it has the most impressive wins over quality opponents--they've beaten three of the top 10 and seven of the top 30 teams in Sagarin (compared to none in the top 10 and seven in the top 30 for Cincy, Texas and TCU COMBINED; Boise has one--Oregon). Taking down the

But if that straggling Texas squad that stumbled their way into the title game ends up winning because they play that underdog card, come in and win a 16-13 crapfest...well, color me disgusted when they get crowned national champion. The TCU-Boise winner will have an equal claim, as will Cincinnati if they beat Florida, and they'll get passed over by a Texas team that isn't distinguishably better than either of them. And let's not forget the fabled suck-off that'll be coming from that hypocrite Mack Brown if Cincy and TCU finish undefeated. Listen to this great sales pitch from the PR master that TedfordIsGod found.

Did anyone read his comments after the game last night? The guy is just a monstrous asshole.

"I don’t think there could be a better matchup than Texas and Alabama," Brown said.

"We’re excited about being Big 12 champs, and we will see you in Pasadena," he told the Cowboys Stadium crowd during the postgame trophy presentation.

And this is just delusional: "I think Colt played great," Brown said. "We didn’t help him at times."

McCoy completed 56% of his passes, threw three picks (all leading to Nebraska field goals, including the potential gamewinner), got handed a gift with the final kickoff out of bounds, and then nearly committed a Rileyesque brain-fart for the ages. That's great in the same way The Core is great.

After the jump, we explore how close TCU, Cincinnati and Boise are to that coveted #2 spot.

Who deserved the #2 spot in the BCS title game? If Texas wins on January 7th, do they deserve to be crowned national champs? If any of the other teams left out won their bowl game convincingly, would you put them #1?

What do the rankings show? Let's compare rankings in every category and see how well each teams perform (rankings courtesy of cfbstats). We start with offense.

Offensive Rankings
	Alabama	Texas	TCU	Cincinnati	Boise St.
Rush YPA	12	69	7	11	9
Rush YPG	12	55	5	65	20
Completion %	29	3	24	10	15
Pass YPA	32	49	5	5	14
Pass Rating	31	23	3	1	2
Pass YPG	84	14	67	6	30
TFL/g allowed	21	100	4	31	11
3rd down conversion %	56	18	34	31	74
Scoring Offense	26	3	3	6	1
Sacks allowed	21	96	6	10	1
Yards per play	25	47	11	2	8
Yards per game	35	20	4	6	8
Turnover margin/game	5	9	41	12	2
Average offensive rank	30	38.9	16.5	15.1	15

In a total non-shocker, the mid-majors dominate. Not a huge surprise. If anyone, this probably benefits Cincinnati the most--they have the best overall schedule of the three teams left out, including facing pretty good defenses in Pitt and Oregon State. Boise slogged through a game with Oregon and TCU did struggle with Clemson too, but I'd say overall Alabama and Texas had better defenses here. I'll go ahead and split it even between these five.

Now on defense...

Defensive Rankings
Category	Alabama	Texas	TCU	Cincinnati	Boise St
Rush YPA	8	1	3	33	56
Rush YPG	2	1	3	55	39
Completion %	3	28	1	87	21
Pass YPA	2	8	1	35	11
Pass Rating	1	11	2	40	12
Pass YPG	7	23	4	49	13
Tackles for loss/game	25	7	55	3	12
Pass defended/g	3	21	36	96	18
3rd down conversion %	4	2	1	59	14
Points allowed per game	1	8	6	24	16
Sacks per game	38	11	14	7	69
Total yards per play	3	1	1	27	21
Total yards per game	2	3	1	48	13
Avg Defense Ranking	7.62	9.62	9.85	43.3	24.2

This is where TCU emphatically makes its case and separates itself from Boise and Cincinnati. TCU literally goes stride-for-stride in every category with the defensively dominant Longhorns and the Tide, finishing #1 in five categories (compared to two for Bama and three for Texas). In every category Texas finishes in the top 5, TCU finishes in the top 5. TCU actually finishes ahead of Alabama in 7 of the 13 categories and Texas in 7 of the 13; only a curious lack of tackles for loss (does TCU give up a bunch of 1 yard gains???) and passes defended (are TCU opposing QBs that terrible, since they still rank #1 in completion percentage defense?) keep the Horned Frogs from winning the overall average outright.

Big ups to TCU here--this is the only real difference given by the three competitors statwise, and it makes a very compelling case that they are the equals, if not superiors of the Longhorns.

Just for kicks, checking out the special teams rankings didn't distinguish anything.

Special Team Rankings
Category	Alabama	Texas	TCU	Cincinnati	Boise St.
Kickoff Return Avg	12	4	1	2	5
Punt Return Avg	5	16	20	19	35
FG%	17	12	28	79	44
Punt Average	33	84	117	80	34
Kickoff Average	30	33	40	4	75
Punt Return Defense	63	85	18	95	12
Kickoff Return Defense	117	65	23	25	12
Average ST ranking	39.57	42.71	35.29	43.43	31

No real differentiation between anyone. Everyone has great returners, and then it's a crapshoot. Although it appears TCU has a terrible punter and Alabama's kick coverage has a taste of the Alamar.

Of course, you can go ahead and say TCU shut down inferior competition compared to Texas and Alabama... which brings us to our final category.

Resume.

norcalnick broke this stuff down cold.

All I care about is who has the better resume. I haven’t analyzed it in depth yet (check Doc Saturday – he’ll probably do that better than I could soon) but I suspect Texas does have the better resume by a very very slim margin.

Texas’s four best wins, in order:
41-14 @ Ok St.
34-24 vs. Texas Tech
16-13 vs. Oklahoma
13-12 vs. Nebraska ("neutral" site)

TCU’s four best wins, in order:
38-7 @ BYU
55-28 vs. Utah
14-10 @ Clemson
30-14 @ Virginia (debatable – you could put a road win over Air Force or a road destruction of Wyoming here – their isn’t a 4th good team on TCU’s schedule)

Cincinnati’s 4 best wins
45-44 @ Pittsburgh
28-18 @ Oregon St.
24-21 vs. West Virginia
47-15 @ Rutgers

Thoughts: Ranked teams beaten: Texas – 2 TCU: 2 Cincinnati: 3

If you look at all of this information and conclude that Texas is obviously the team that should be picked, then I think you might be influenced by the name recognition. I think Cincinnati has beaten two teams better than any team Texas has beaten and I think TCU has done a better job of badly beating the teams they play while Texas has had too many close calls. Texas may have the better resume, but it’s nowhere near a slam dunk.

Cincinnati definitely picks up points here that their statistics didn't provide them; they have 3 quality wins (Pitt and West Virginia in their conference, and Oregon State on the road). TCU's position is alright (two quality victories over conference foes including a beatdown for the ages in Provo and a shutdown of C.J. Spiller and the ACC runner-up Tigers).

This would normally be where the Longhorns distance themselves, but Texas hardly picks up any ground--they struggled with four Big 12 opponents (including Texas A&M), only one of whom won more than 8 games. They're barely above TCU and Cincy in this area. Resume eliminates Boise--they only have Oregon and mmmmaybe Nevada; add in the statistical shortcomings and they're just not good enough to be considered #2. Sorry Broncos.

Alabama doesn't have anything to worry about here. Statistics and resume prove they are deserving of the number one spot. But this debate over the #2 spot prevents this title game from being an absolute be-all, end-all to crowning your mythical national champion.

Your annual travesty #2: Thanks to the fantastic process that is the BCS, there probably won't be any special claims. Cincinnati might have a shot if they topple Florida, but TCU and Boise both have gotten the mid-major screw-over. if they win, no one gives a crap and no one will vote for them for #1 because they didn't beat a "real team." And there's also no disruption in the system because there's no chance two 'inferior mid-majors' take down the 'big boys'. Flip an opponent from the Cincy-Florida matchup to this one and you have some intriguing matchups that provide fairness to all; right now, it's just another BCS joke.

Thus, until a playoff is in place, there will always be teams with legitimate gripes and claims to a shot at the national title (Auburn in 2004, Boise State in 2006, Georgia and USC in 2007, Utah in 2008), and if they go ahead and win their bowl games, their claims should be considered legitimate. Unless we have a truly ideal situation (two undefeated teams meeting a la USC-Texas), the bowl season should not be considered anything more than glorified exhibition.

While Texas got the #2 spot by the slightest of margins, you can make an equally compelling case for both TCU and Cincinnati (and a weaker one for Boise) based on the opponents they've surmounted and their overall statistical performance. Henceforth, this BCS "title game" is nothing more than a semi-exhibition--one team can prove they are the champion, the other team can prove they are deserving of champion status, nothing more

The winner of the 2010 BCS Championship Game can only really be considered a true national champion...if Nick Saban is the one hoisting the crystal ball.

Poll

The BCS is rewarding a true national champion in 2009. True or false.

Cal-Utah in the Poinsettia Bowl + Bowl Selection Sunday Open Thread

Avinash — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:05:06 -0000

David Seawright says Cal to the Poinsettia Bowl. (HT Berkelium) And they will be facing Utah, since ESPN confirmed a BYU-Oregon State Vegas Bowl (HT gigglingone).

UPDATE: Sources are saying BYU to Vegas, Utah to Poinsettia.

Official press release, although Utah has not yet been announced: (HT calgbear)

California, which will continue is school-record run of bowl appearances with its seventh consecutive postseason invitation, has accepted a bid to the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl against a to-be-named opponent from the Mountain West Conference on Wednesday, Dec. 23 at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium. Kickoff will be at 5 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN...

Overall, Cal will be making its 20th bowl appearance, with the Bears owning a 10-8-1 postseason record. Cal has twice played in bowl games in San Diego in recent years, having participated in the Holiday Bowl in 2004 and '06.

"We are looking forward to going to San Diego and playing in the Poinsettia Bowl," Tedford said. "We've had great experiences in bowl games in San Diego in the past. We've always been treated very well, and the hospitality has been outstanding. We are looking forward to playing a quality opponent from the Mountain West Conference."

Regardless what you think of the current system, bowl selection night is always a fun one. It's a great day to pick out games you'll want to watch, other games that you can probably skip out on, and many college football alumni finally figure out whether they're making one last pilgrimage this Christmas to a final football showcase.

We have a pretty good idea of who's getting picked where. So ponder these questions in the comments:

Which bowl games are you looking forward the most to? Which games look like total duds? Do you have any big gripes with some of the selections? And what do you feel about Cal's bowl matchup?

Official BCS matchups announced on FOX around 8 PM EST/5 PM PST; ESPN selection show runs at the same time. Updates on all the Pac-10 teams after the jump, and discuss Cal's official announcement. (including BIG NEWS coming from Arizona)

2:20 PM PST/5:20 PM EST

USC to the Emerald Bowl and Oregon State to the Vegas Bowl. So to the final matchups are (tentatively)

Rose: Oregon-Ohio State
Holiday: Arizona-Nebraska
Sun: Furd-Oklahoma
Vegas: Oregon State-BYU
Emerald: USC-Boston College
Poinsettia: Cal-Utah
Humanitarian (IF Navy beats Army): UCLA-Idaho

1:35 PM PST/4:35 PM EST
The Furd-Oklahoma Sun Bowl has been confirmed.

1 PM PST/4 PM EST

Sources are saying the Furd will be in the Sun Bowl against Oklahoma.

According to Ted Miller, big changes happening in Arizona, along with the expected bowl invite to San Diego.

Arizona has been invited to the Holiday Bowl, as expected.

Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood may be headed to the same post at UNLV.

And defensive coordinator Mark Stoops is a hot head coaching candidate. He may be headed to Youngstown State. Or following Livengood to UNLV.

UCLA will earn an invite to the Humanitarian Bowl if Navy beats Army this Saturday.

I think we might have been overlooking Washington a little bit. I think a lot of us were more...

Avinash — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:25:28 -0000

I think we might have been overlooking Washington a little bit. I think a lot of us were more worried about the bowl game than Washington, and it bit us in the butt.
...
I was pissed. It was a frustrating game.
...
We got beat in all phases of the game. You have to give Washington credit. They were ready to play and we weren't.

Shane Vereen, Kevin Riley and Jeff Tedford (respectively) on the Washington game.

Lesson to be learned: Always finish the season with The Big Game. ALWAYS.

Cal Basketball Attacks And Hustles Their Way To 82-63 Victory Over Iowa State

Avinash — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 08:44:34 -0000

More photos » by Dino Vournas - AP

Excuse me Mr. Brackins, but you have entered the Chamber of Max.

Browse more photos »

We'll start with the actual team that played with desire yesterday. (As for football, an official bowl announcement will come around 1:30 PM PST, according to Okanes)

The Bears played like a team in must-win mode, and they dominated a solid Iowa State team and their star Craig Brackins. With little error after three road losses against their best opponents, and Pac-10 hoops in general taking a beating, this win was a good step in the right direction for this team and this conference. Cal did not shoot well from downtown (Randle was an uncharacteristic 0 for 7), but didn't need it thanks to timely rebounding, an attack mentality and strong defense, shutting the Cyclones down when they pulled away in the second half.

Player spotlight: This turned out to be the perfect game for (I can't believe it either) Max Zhang. What Zhang lacks on offense he made up for on defense. Although we are far away from anointing him Yao Ming Jr., when he had to face off on the future NBA prospect, Brackins had to work hard to get his 21 points, needing 19 shots to reach that mark. Zhang played close up on him, crowded his range, and forced him into difficult shots when he was on him. Big ups to Max--if he can play like that against Cole Aldrich in a few weeks we have a slight chance of making the noise.

Stars of the night: Omondi Amoke and Patrick Christopher. 25 of Cal's 51 rebounds (and 9 of their 19 offensive boards) came from Amoke and Christopher. Both guys crashed the glass and got 10 points on putbacks. Without any bigs, you love your smaller guys getting in there and putting their effort into it. Amoke was all hustle tonight, cutting baseline and hustling down boards; his performance opened up what could've been a much tighter game.

Great rebound game for Christopher after the disappearing act in Albuquerque. Christopher seemed more ready to attack the basket, and he managed to earn a few trips to the stripe (he missed some of them, but hey, it's better than nothing). For the most part he took open jumpers and 3s, and if he couldn't get them passed to the open man or put it on the floor. With another tough road test at Pacific looming, the Bears might need another big performance from him, especially if Theo's injury continues to hold him out.

(Postgame reaction from Clone Chronicles)

rollonubears went to his first Cal game and shared his thoughts.

Thoughts on Haas:
I need to bring hiking boots next time. Dear lord it is steep.
The atmosphere was very disappointing. The stadium was probably less than half full. Cal fans can show up and be loud (like at football games), so why not do it for basketball? In my opinion a good basketball crowd is more important than a good football crowd. Frustrating.

Thoughts on the game:

PChris sighting! PChris sighting! After being on the lam from playing well for months, good old PChris is back.

Jerome Randle is really, really good at basketball.

I can’t remember Jorge having a better offensive game. He was confident with the ball, made some 3s, used headfakes effectively, and had only 1 turnover. Hopefully he keeps that up.

Dear Max, You are 7 fucking 3. 3 rebounds is unacceptable in 20+ minutes. A guy 9 inches shorter than you grabbed 8 more rebounds. And it isn’t that he isn’t getting bounces. Its that he isn’t trying for the ball. Max frequently just watches the play and doesn’t move to the ball. Quit being so cumbersome and do something! He needs to go to the Omondi Amoke school of sticking your nose in everything. Speaking of him…

I am officially in love with Amoke. He really is Mr. Everything. He is a great natural rebounder (if he was a few inches taller he would be unstoppable), very athletic, a heady player, and always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Amoke’s play thus far has been by far the most positive development of the year.

Poll

Player of the game...

The Official Hate Mack Brown Thread

Avinash — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:34:58 -0000

Since most of us don't want to talk about the Cal game, let's talk about how much we hate Mack Brown and Texas. I'll leave it to ch0ster.

Funny that Mack Brown would say he doesn’t believe in "style points." That’s precisely what he used against Cal’s close win against Southern Miss in ’04. Fuck that asshole.

That, adding to that awful clock management at the end, and their total inability to do anything...TCU deserves to be in the title game. I hope Alabama puts up 50 on that hypocritical motherfucker. ROLL TIDE.

Cal-Iowa State Men's Basketball Open Thread + Interview With Clone Chronicles

Avinash — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 07:33:13 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Can Cal's bigs contain Craig Brackins?

Browse more photos »

(To discuss the remaining college football games or the Cal-Washington game, scroll down to the postgame thread. This thread is for the basketball game only!)

Line: Cal by 8
Injuries: Robertson (questionable, gametime decision), MSF, Gutierrez, Amoke (probable, all with flu/cold)

After a tough loss to New Mexico, Cal is fast approaching must-win mode to avoid being in come-from-behind mode for the Pac-10 season. That bid kicks off with a home matchup against Iowa State in the continuing Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood series. Other than an Oregon State win yesterday, the Pac has been shut out, making it very imperative Cal wins tonight to boost the conference's image and their team's ability to beat quality big conference opponents.

This game is on ESPNU, tips off at Haas at 8 PM PST/11 PM EST. After the jump, we interview the Iowa State SBN blog, Clone Chronicles, to discuss tonight's matchup and learn more about Iowa St. basketball.

1) Tell us about your top players. Who are the Cyclones Cal fans should be worried about?

Our top players are Craig Brackins, Marquis Gilstrap, and Diante Garrett. Brackins is a 2009 Preseaon All-American who was a projected Lottery Pick in 2009, decided to come back to try to get this team to the NCAA Tournament. He's a natural 3, that has to play the 4 and 5 due to a lack of post presence. He has issues against physical players, but has a nice mid-range jumper and fade-away spin move in the post. Gilstrap is a JUCO Transfer who is true wing player in that he is a good rebounder, can score from anywhere, and attacks the hoop. Garrett is the point guard. He isn't a scorer, but great at distributing the ball, and not giving up turnovers. His A/T is 3.31 on the year.... Lucca Staiger played on the German National Team this past summer. He's a 3 point specialist, so he can't be left open.

2) How well is the offense running now? Defense?

Offense is not running well at all. This team plays much better in transition than in half court sets. They are having a tough time against physical defenses, man-to-man defenses. They play much better against the zone. Defensively, they are alright. The post defense isn't great as they've allowed a handful of easy layins, but the perimeter defense is pretty good. They do not pressure too much, so they do not pick up many steals.

3) What are the expectations going into this season for the Cyclones?

The expectations were to get to the NCAA Tournament. With 2 professional prospects in Brackins and Gilstrap, along with some starters becoming upperclassmen, along with being able to go 9-10 deep, anything short of that is a disappointment...So far this season has been disappointing, but the potential is there. This game against Cal is a must-win for the Cyclones... I think some would be ok with a NIT, but most of the top players will likely leave ISU after this year, so 2010-2011 looks to be a rebuilding year. If they do not make the dance, this would be the longest NCAA Tournament drought for ISU since the early 1980s.

4) Tell us something about Iowa State that granola-munching, tree-hugging, flag-burning heathens on the West Coast would probably not know.

Over the past 24 years, they've made the NCAA Tournament 12 times. Jeff Hornacek, Marcus Fizer, Kelvin Cato, and Jamal Tinsley played at Iowa State. Tim Floyd coached here in the mid-1990s prior to coaching the Chicago Bulls. Hilton Coliseum used to be considered one of the toughest places to play in all of College Basketball. The last time it's been truley, floor shaking hostile, was in 2004 or 2005. Winning more will cure that I think.... ISU is mostly an AG school, so of course most students hate everything that Berkeley stands for.

5) As an Iowa State fan, who do you want to punch in the face the most and why?

Not really anyone, but the closest is Roy Williams probably. Every single top recruit from the state of Iowa he has plucked for himself. The latest was #1 Recruit Harrison Barnes who is an Ames, IA native. In the later 1990s into the early 2000s, ISU had a good rivalry going with Kansas with some pretty competitive games, so some of it stems from there.

Poll

Who you got?

Washington 42, California 10: Bears Hibernate A Week Early

Avinash — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:48:39 -0000

Amazing how our season has gone. We've had blowouts, some thrilling wins...and some of the worst fucking losses I've ever seen. Every defeat hasn't been bad, it's been eye-gouging. Nothing redeemable about any one of them. You just want to take the tapes and burn them. Bad football, bad coaching, bad blocking, bad quarterbacking, bad pass defense, bad special teams...

I don't care too much about the four losses (we lost to three of the best Pac-10 teams) as to HOW we've lost each of these games. At least in the early Tedford losses you'd get a fight all the way. In every defeat, the Bears have gone down, and they've gone down quietly. I know there's been a lot of hating on the players for not playing up to snuff, but the coaches have to answer for performances like this. The players being busts is an asinine excuse--the coaches do recruit these guys too, so that falls on them. Good coaches should be able to adjust, motivate, and get these guys developed enough and ready to execute. They haven't, and it's time for them to own up going into the bowl game and next season.

On the bright side, Cal fans got what they wanted--you don't have to worry about El Paso anymore. Poinsettia Bowl is almost certainly our destination now. I hate all of you.

This thread is to discuss Cal-UDub and the remaining college football action tonight (second halves of the Big 12/ACC title games, USF-UConn, Wisconsin-Hawaii). With Cal-Iowa State hoops coming in about an hour or so, official postgame recap coming tomorrow morning--it's too crowded today to really get anything in.

Discuss the football games here. Submit your report card after the jump or click here to view and submit. Scroll up to discuss the basketball game.

Poll

I am _____________ with the Cal-Washington game.

SEC Championship Open Thread (Plus USC-Arizona)

Avinash — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:36:38 -0000

With USC-Arizona surprisingly have little impact on the final standings, most of us are probably tuning into #1 versus #2. This is your SEC Championship open thread plus USC-Arizona...when the Cal threads go up, try and keep discussion to the game here.

Poll

Your first BCS title representative is...

Alabama

16 votes

Florida

11 votes

27 votes | Poll has closed

Championship Weekend Morning Open Thread

Avinash — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:58:43 -0000

It's Saturday morning Bears. And we say it sadly, because it's almost time to hibernate. You guys better get prepared for the long sojourn as the regular season comes to a close. (Well okay, we might have an Army-Navy thread next week. That game is always rocking.)

Not to mention we have a busy schedule today, not all of it hoops--noon women's hoops game online, 3:30 Cal-UW, 8 PM Cal-Iowa State hoops. Figures that the college football season concludes with one final binge of sports. Hey, on the bright side we all get to sleep in on Saturdays again! After the jump, check the morning schedule leading up to the SEC title game.

10 AM EST/7 AM PST

College Gameday, live from Atlanta: The last time an SEC team played in the Rose Bowl in January was 1946 (Alabama beating USC).

noon EST/9 AM PST

Cincinnati at Pitt, de facto Big East Championship, ABC HD: Can the Wannstache put a dent into the Bearcats slim title hopes and throw a monkey wrench into the BCS? Will the world explode if there end up being two BCS teams.

West Virginia at Rutgers, ESPN HD: Battle for the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Houston at East Carolina, C-USA Championship, ESPN2 HD: Battle for the Liberty Bowl.

2 PM EST/11 AM PST

San Jose State at Louisiana Tech, CSN California/ESPN360.com: These teams are a combined 5-17. Yet this game can be naturally distributed through 360

Southern vs Texas Southern, ESPNU: Are you intrigued?

Poll

SB Nation User Blog: Avinash

Cal Sports Recruiting Thread: December 2009

More BCS Travesty: TCU and Cincinnati Are As Deserving As Texas

The BCS is rewarding a true national champion in 2009. True or false.

Cal-Utah in the Poinsettia Bowl + Bowl Selection Sunday Open Thread

I think we might have been overlooking Washington a little bit. I think a lot of us were more...

Cal Basketball Attacks And Hustles Their Way To 82-63 Victory Over Iowa State

Player of the game...

The Official Hate Mack Brown Thread

Cal-Iowa State Men's Basketball Open Thread + Interview With Clone Chronicles

Who you got?

Washington 42, California 10: Bears Hibernate A Week Early

I am _____________ with the Cal-Washington game.

SEC Championship Open Thread (Plus USC-Arizona)

Your first BCS title representative is...

Alabama

Florida

Championship Weekend Morning Open Thread

My current state is....