The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 16

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	1
2	LSU Tigers	-1
3	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	--
4	Oregon Ducks	2
5	Stanford Cardinal	-1
6	USC Trojans	-1
7	Boise St. Broncos	1
8	Arkansas Razorbacks	1
9	South Carolina Gamecocks	5
10	Wisconsin Badgers	-3
11	Michigan St. Spartans	--
12	Michigan Wolverines	--
13	Kansas St. Wildcats	-3
14	TCU Horned Frogs	1
15	Baylor Bears	-2
16	West Virginia Mountaineers	8
17	Georgia Bulldogs	-1
18	Houston Cougars	1
19	Oklahoma Sooners	-2
20	Virginia Tech Hokies	1
21	Southern Miss. Golden Eagles	2
22	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-2
23	Clemson Tigers	-5
24	Northern Illinois Huskies	--
25	Florida St. Seminoles	--
Dropouts: Penn St. Nittany Lions, Cincinnati Bearcats

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

When we last left off our Top 25 ballot, the regular season had just ended, and while LSU was a clear, obvious No. 1, the question of who should be No. 2 was unresolved in many minds. Should Alabama have gotten the No. 2 spot, even though they had already lost to the top-ranked Tigers earlier in the season (at home), or should Oklahoma State have been given a shot at the title? Had LSU prevailed in the rematch, I'm sure many Oklahoma State fans would be left wondering what they could have done if only they had been given a shot (life lesson: you don't win National Championships by losing to Iowa State). As it is, Alabama soundly beat the Tigers, which opened up a different sort of question: should there be a split national title?

Thoughts and justifications after the jump:

Continue reading this post »

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 15

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU Tigers	--
2	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
3	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	--
4	Stanford Cardinal	--
5	USC Trojans	--
6	Oregon Ducks	3
7	Wisconsin Badgers	--
8	Boise St. Broncos	--
9	Arkansas Razorbacks	-3
10	Kansas St. Wildcats	2
11	Michigan St. Spartans	2
12	Michigan Wolverines	4
13	Baylor Bears	6
14	South Carolina Gamecocks	3
15	TCU Horned Frogs	3
16	Georgia Bulldogs	-1
17	Oklahoma Sooners	-3
18	Clemson Tigers	3
19	Houston Cougars	-8
20	Nebraska Cornhuskers	--
21	Virginia Tech Hokies	-11
22	Penn St. Nittany Lions	--
23	Southern Miss. Golden Eagles	--
24	West Virginia Mountaineers	--
25	Cincinnati Bearcats	--
Dropouts: Florida St. Seminoles

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Not a lot of teams played last weekend, and thus not a lot of movement. Houston got beat by Southern Miss in its BCS audition (and boy do I know what it's like to watch Southern Miss ruin your team's BCS chances), and Virginia Tech got blown out by Clemson in the ACC title game. Further thoughts and justifications after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 14

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU Tigers	--
2	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
3	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	1
4	Stanford Cardinal	1
5	USC Trojans	1
6	Arkansas Razorbacks	-3
7	Wisconsin Badgers	3
8	Boise St. Broncos	--
9	Oregon Ducks	-2
10	Virginia Tech Hokies	2
11	Houston Cougars	3
12	Kansas St. Wildcats	-3
13	Michigan St. Spartans	-2
14	Oklahoma Sooners	2
15	Georgia Bulldogs	--
16	Michigan Wolverines	-3
17	South Carolina Gamecocks	2
18	TCU Horned Frogs	2
19	Baylor Bears	3
20	Nebraska Cornhuskers	1
21	Clemson Tigers	-3
22	Penn St. Nittany Lions	-5
23	Southern Miss. Golden Eagles	--
24	West Virginia Mountaineers	--
25	Florida St. Seminoles	--
Dropouts: Virginia Cavaliers, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Notre Dame Fighting Irish

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

A week after gagging against unranked Iowa State, Oklahoma State is back up to #3, ready to pounce should LSU eat it in the SEC title game. Oh, provided the Cowboys get past Oklahoma this weekend, that is. Further thoughts and justifications after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 13

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU Tigers	--
2	Alabama Crimson Tide	1
3	Arkansas Razorbacks	2
4	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	-2
5	Stanford Cardinal	3
6	USC Trojans	9
7	Oregon Ducks	-3
8	Boise St. Broncos	2
9	Kansas St. Wildcats	4
10	Wisconsin Badgers	1
11	Michigan St. Spartans	1
12	Virginia Tech Hokies	-3
13	Michigan Wolverines	5
14	Houston Cougars	--
15	Georgia Bulldogs	2
16	Oklahoma Sooners	-9
17	Penn St. Nittany Lions	2
18	Clemson Tigers	-12
19	South Carolina Gamecocks	1
20	TCU Horned Frogs	2
21	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-5
22	Baylor Bears	--
23	Virginia Cavaliers	--
24	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	-1
25	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	--
Dropouts: Southern Miss. Golden Eagles, West Virginia Mountaineers

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Yeah, that's SEC West >>>> everyone else.  This late in the season, we have more than enough results that our ballot should be based on what teams have actually accomplished on the field, rather than how good we think they are, and right now, LSU beat Alabama who beat Arkansas, and nobody else has touched any one of them.  Why did Texas A&M think moving to this division was a good idea, again?

To be fair, the troika of Stanford, USC and Oregon, besides beating each other, have only losses to LSU and Arizona State (back in October, when they were good).  But they're still a clear second tier behind the SEC schools.

Further thoughts and justifications after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 12

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU Tigers	--
2	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	--
3	Alabama Crimson Tide	1
4	Oregon Ducks	2
5	Arkansas Razorbacks	2
6	Clemson Tigers	3
7	Oklahoma Sooners	1
8	Stanford Cardinal	-5
9	Virginia Tech Hokies	7
10	Boise St. Broncos	-5
11	Wisconsin Badgers	--
12	Michigan St. Spartans	--
13	Kansas St. Wildcats	1
14	Houston Cougars	-4
15	USC Trojans	2
16	Nebraska Cornhuskers	8
17	Georgia Bulldogs	-2
18	Michigan Wolverines	3
19	Penn St. Nittany Lions	-6
20	South Carolina Gamecocks	-2
21	Southern Miss. Golden Eagles	2
22	TCU Horned Frogs	--
23	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	-4
24	West Virginia Mountaineers	--
25	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	--
Dropouts: Cincinnati Bearcats, Texas Longhorns

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Suck it, 'Furd!  I wish I could justify dropping them out of the Top 10, but at the very least I know I won't be watching them in the National Championship game, so at least that nightmare has been avoided.

Further thoughts and justifications after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 10

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU Tigers	--
2	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
3	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	1
4	Stanford Cardinal	-1
5	Boise St. Broncos	1
6	Oklahoma Sooners	7
7	Oregon Ducks	--
8	Nebraska Cornhuskers	3
9	Clemson Tigers	-4
10	Arkansas Razorbacks	2
11	Kansas St. Wildcats	-2
12	Virginia Tech Hokies	7
13	Michigan St. Spartans	-3
14	South Carolina Gamecocks	1
15	Houston Cougars	7
16	Penn St. Nittany Lions	4
17	Michigan Wolverines	-1
18	Arizona St. Sun Devils	3
19	USC Trojans	-2
20	Wisconsin Badgers	-12
21	Georgia Bulldogs	2
22	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	--
23	Auburn Tigers	--
24	Washington Huskies	1
25	Missouri Tigers	--
Dropouts: Texas A&M Aggies, Texas Tech Red Raiders, Cincinnati Bearcats

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Hey look, it's 25 teams who have better football teams than Cal!  And we've ranked them!  Enjoy!  Some thoughts after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Furd at #3.  It sickens me.  I hope it sickens you.  Feeble justifications after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 3

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU Tigers	--
2	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
3	Boise St. Broncos	--
4	Wisconsin Badgers	--
5	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	9
6	Oklahoma Sooners	-1
7	South Carolina Gamecocks	3
8	Stanford Cardinal	-2
9	Oregon Ducks	-1
10	Nebraska Cornhuskers	1
11	Texas A&M Aggies	-4
12	Baylor Bears	4
13	South Florida Bulls	--
14	Arizona St. Sun Devils	2
15	Arkansas Razorbacks	2
16	Virginia Tech Hokies	-4
17	Florida St. Seminoles	-8
18	West Virginia Mountaineers	2
19	Florida Gators	5
20	Michigan St. Spartans	--
21	Auburn Tigers	--
22	USC Trojans	--
23	Michigan Wolverines	--
24	Ohio St. Buckeyes	-6
25	TCU Horned Frogs	--
Dropouts: Mississippi St. Bulldogs, Missouri Tigers, Houston Cougars, Texas Longhorns

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Our top 4 remain unchanged, but Oklahoma State trounces Arizona to leap into our top 5.  Lots of shuffling elsewhere, but lots of week 2 patsies makes for not a lot to vote on.  Thoughts and justifications after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

LSU is our unanimous #1 this week, for fairly obvious reasons.  Lots of disagreement after that, though.  Thoughts and justifications after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Wow, this is awkward.  I haven't written for CGB in months -- most days I'm just a lurker, when I even get a chance to log on -- but here I am, back on the front page.  What brought me back?  One word:

FOOOOTTBAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!

More specifically, with another CFB season brings another season of the Blogpoll, and with it, CGB's weekly Top 25.  Being that no games have been played yet, these are all just guesses.  I'm of the opinion that a Top 25 poll doesn't make much sense before about week 5, but I don't get to make those sorts of decisions, so here we are.

As always, feel free to disagree with any and all opinions presented below in the comments section.  Try, however, to back up your disagreements with factual statements.  That no games have been played yet does tend to make this a bit difficult, however ;)

Without further preamble, here's CGB's collective top 25:

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Oklahoma
4. Boise State
5. Wisconsin

We have the same top 4 as the blogpoll in general, with Oregon swapped over Oklahoma.  Call it west coast bias.  Normally, I tend to discount teams with the sort of off-field distractions that Oregon has suffered from (see Lyles, Will), but the way they've bounced back from previous scandals (Jeremiah Masoli, Blount Force Trauma) suggests that they should have no trouble weathering this storm.

After the jump, the rest of the Top 25.

Continue reading this post »

Who are you people, and what are you all about?

The California Golden Blogs web log (or "blog") is a website featuring the running chronicles of fourteen recent Cal grad's unhealthy obsession with Cal Athletics and all things related.  Coupled with this obsession, our jobs are so mind-numbingly boring that the fourteen of us waste most of our employers' valuable time talking about Cal sports.  Lucky you!  The Golden Bloggers (alternately "Marshawnthusiasts", "Jahvidticians", "Members of the Follettariat", and "The Hit Squad") are:

Ragnarok:  The serious one.  Occasionally funny, but mostly not.  Still, he'll provide you with useful information and serious answers to your inquires most of the time.  Or, he used to.  Then he went and had a daughter, and was rarely if ever seen again.

HydroTech:  The smart one.  He knows more about football than you.  Unless your name is Jeff Tedford (or "God").  In which case, stop reading Cal sports blogs and get to work on figuring out how to beat USC!

Yellow Fever:  One of a select number of people who have:

1) Stalked Vince Carter in a Bloomingdale's
2) Gotten a Cal hat signed by Derrick Favors
3) Shaken Jeff Tedford's hand
4) Commiserated over Jahvid Best's draft stock with Sandy Barbour
5) Spent a night on the town with DeSean Jackson

Ok, maybe not the last one.

CBKWit:  The absent one.  I'd write a short bio, but I haven't yet gleaned enough info from his 3 total posts to get an accurate picture of who this guy is.

Avinash:  The honest one. The one who cracks the whip. Imagine Patton directing those tanks through Normandy. He's Patton and everyone else is those poor tanks. Hopefully they're not going to run of gas.

If we had official titles, he'd be something like the editorial operations director (writes, edits, directs). But titles are for monarchies.

Berkelium97:  The intrepid reporter and Mr. Reliable.  You've heard of Old Faithful?  Big Ben?  Amateurs.  If there's Cal news to be found, you can count on him to find it.  When he's not digging up all news stories Cal-related, he's attending various Pac-10 media events.  And when he's not at Pac-10 media events, he plays with mounds of data for his next stats-based post.

Norcalnick: A 4th generation Cal grad who grew up on Dameane Douglas, Randy Duck and Tony Gonzalez, and has attended every Big Game since his 10th birthday.  He graduated from Cal in 2007 without watching Cal lose to Stanford during his time as a student, something the rest of his family is very jealous about.

He fell in love with Cal women's basketball while following the exploits of Ashley Walker, Alexis Gray-Lawson and Devanei Hampton and was brought on to write about the team for CGB starting in the 2009-10 season.  He also writes about the exploits of Monty's charges, fills the role of CGB's Sacramento correspondent, and promises to try to write as much as he can about Cal baseball for as long as the program continues to exist.

solarise:  Wears bumblebee gold to the gym everyday. TwistNHook & Avinash recruited him to dominate. He tends to take things too seriously. Unintentional comedy ensues.   

Kodiak:  Kodiak is the 4th generation of his family to graduate from Cal.  He used to have a life, but got tricked into spawning two little girls.  Their arrival also contributed to breaking a more than two decades-long streak of attendance at home football and basketball games.  Now he pulls double-duty working with the Hit Squad and helping out with front-page content.  

LeonPowe:  CGB Hit Squad member LeonPowe is not the hard rebounding power forward who led the Cal Bears in the early 2000s, but rather a 1996 Cal grad who lives in China and believes that Monty Buckley is the best Bear ever. LP monitors the overnight shift for CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.

atomsareenough:  Though he is primarily known for his fondness for proper grammar and punctuation, he's not just some grumpy language scold. Well, he's not grumpy anyway. Despite the screen name, he is not one of the many CGB chemists; rather, he belongs in the hallowed "Indian" circle of the famed CGB Venn Diagram. If you're wondering, "atoms are enough" comes from a Les Savy Fav song.

OhioBear:  Ohio Bear, as his screen name implies, lives in Ohio.  He graduated from Cal in the early 1990s and covered Cal sports for KALX while a student.  Ohio Bear's fondest memories of his undergraduate years were the 1991 Cal football season and being a play-by-play voice for Cal baseball and women's basketball.  Despite not currently being in the broadcasting business, Ohio Bear's dream job is to be Joe Starkey's successor as the play-by-play voice of Cal football.   

CALumbusBear:  CALumbus Bear was dragged kicking and screaming to CGB by Ohio Bear, but eventually became the Self-Appointed Chief Ultra Justice of the CGB Supreme Court. Because he liked being a powerless figurehead, he was recruited to the Hit Squad and now spends most of his time trying to avoid providing general site content.  He graduated from Cal in 1996 and has been spreading Cal love in Ohio for over a decade.

TwistNHook - TwistNHook is like a fine wine.  Overpriced, overhyped, he always leaves you unsatisfied in the end.  People say he's funny.  All we know is that here at the CGB, we deal with the two most important things in the world: college football and the internet.

And that's no laughing matter.

How do these FanPosts work?  What about FanShots?

FanPosts are an opportunity for people to write their own article and put it up. It's chance for you to try your hand at sportswriting!  While we mods are in charge of producing front-page content, we encourage community participation to provide balance and additional points of view.  So, speak up and have your say!  FanPosts are for write-ups, thoughts, or reactions that you have written yourself.  They should be 75 words or more.  Please, no all-caps and no advertisements. If we really like your post, we will probably put it on the front page so more people will see it.

Got an awesome link, quote, or video to share, but not enough content to fill up a full-fledged FanPost? Is there a Cal-related breaking news item that you think everyone should know about and you want to link to an article about it? That sounds like excellent FanShot material, then!  FanShots are for links, photos, videos -- no analysis or extra thought necessary.

For more information, check out this discussion. Actually, on second thought, don't.

What does "DBD" stand for?

Daily Bear Dump.  It's a daily collection of links and related discussion for easy consumption.  It's a great place to go to catch up on the news of the day, and at least within the DBD, just about anything goes.  It has evolved into a daily casual hangout spot, where people can chit-chat about Cal, about sports in general, or about anything random that strikes their fancy. It's like your favorite neighborhood bar or coffee house, but open 24/7 and with friendlier, more interesting people... or so we like to think, anyway.

These are CGB's collective conventions, and that's all they are - conventions.  Use your judgment when posting, and everything should work out just fine.

Can anyone post a DBD?

Yes!  If it is late at night or early in the morning and you don't see one posted already, have at it.

What topics are allowed?

Any and all topics that don't violate the community guidelines are okay.  Sometimes people have a clever story to tell, want to share a fun video, or simply want to pose a question to stimulate and entertaining discussion.  Take a look at some old DBD's to get an idea.

What links should I post?

We typically post links from any recent sports headlines on CalBears.com or any relevant news from dailycal.org.  We also try to link to recent news for our local sports teams featured on bayarea.sbnation.com.  Don't feel bad if you miss some links, or don't have the time to find them all.  Everyone tries to pitch in when they can with posting the news of the day.

I found a great article about Cal on another website.  Can I post it here so that everyone else can see?

Many websites (such as for news organizations, like the SF Chronicle) will allow their stories to be passed around the web without too much restriction.  Find a gem of a quote?  Feel free to copy and paste the relevant passage into a comment, a FanShot, or even your own FanPost, along with a link back to the original story.  Due to fair-use restrictions, you can't copy the whole thing, but you can copy an excerpt, and by providing a link back to the original story, readers can go and get the whole story, straight from the source.  We at the CGB would appreciate the same courtesy when linking to our posts.

However, some websites restrict some or all of their content to paying subscribers, or otherwise won't allow any of their content to be republished elsewhere.  There are no fair-use allowances for such "premium" or "restricted" content as can be found at sites such as Rivals, Scout, or ESPN Insider.  They work hard to produce such content, and don't want to see it just given away for free.  For something behind a subscription wall, or where the publisher asks not to copy it, merely offer the link and perhaps a paraphrase.  Do not copy and paste anything from behind a subscription wall, because it may be not only against copyright law but also in violation of your subscription agreement as well.  We could get in trouble, you could be banned from that subscription site, there could be money damages -- bad times all around.  Just don't do it. If you're not sure you have the right to copy or republish something, then don't do it.

What about this awesome photo I found?  It's a little lewd, however...

Although we aren't really all that prudish, it is important to remember that this site is viewed by all manner of people, including those who may not appreciate such photos, as well as others who read this blog at work.  While most employers might not mind you reading sports websites during quick, 10-minute breaks at work, they may frown further on viewing embarrassing photos of player's girlfriends and opposing cheerleaders.  In no way does CGB ever want to be responsible for someone getting in trouble at work, so if you have a photo that you think could get people in trouble (large photo or photo of scantily clad women), please post only a link to the photo with a NSFW ("Not Safe For Work") warning.  Readers can then choose, or not, to view the picture at a later, more appropriate time.  Better safe than sorry!

What about this other photo I found?  It isn't dirty.  Did you say something about using a header?

Remember that all photos are copyrighted, so be sure you aren't infringing someone else's copyright by posting the photo. Again, if you're not sure you have the right to post it, don't do it.  

We also ask that when you post any photo, or even a large block of text, you include a header in your post (the top part of the post that's automatically bold).  That way, if a reader wants to hide the photo or large block of text, all they have to do is click the header and, like magic, the picture/text is hidden. Please, PLEASE do this with animated gifs, as pages with lots of gifs and big photos can get slow.

What's a torrent?  Can I use them to re-watch Cal games after the fact?

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol; it can be used to download just about anything.  Recently, all Cal Football games have been uploaded as torrents, so yeah, it appears you can download them and then view them as many times as you like on your computer. But do this at your own risk -- we have no idea if the person who posted the game has the authority or right to do so. Even if we or another CGBer post the link, we are not saying that you should download it or it is safe/legal to download. Once again, there are copyright issues at stake, and we encourage you to keep those in mind and only do what is permissible under relevant law.  

How do I download and view these torrents?

The Patron Saint of Awesomeness Danzig explains this better than we ever could.

HydroTech's screen capture posts are awesome!  How does he do that?

In 10 easy steps:
1 - Download the torrent of the game (see above).
2 - Burn the torrent to DVD (requires torrent-burning software).
3 - Play the DVD on your computer.
4 - Press the "prnt scrn" button on computer at the appropriate time during the game
5 - Open up Photoshop (other photo-editing software will also work, but Hydro uses Photoshop).
6 - "Paste" the screen grab into Photoshop.
7 - Crop the photo as desired.
8 - Add dots, arrows, or whatever else helps explain the photo.
9 - Save the photo as a .jpg file.
10 - Upload the .jpg file to the SBN server.

I just started a great new blog.  Wanna exchange links?

Perhaps.  It really depends on what your blog is about, and how closely it jives with what we cover at CGB.  We're trying to be a little selective here; after all, a million links is about as useful as no links at all.

Anyway, we'll readily link to a site about Cal Sports, and most any regularly-updating site about other Pac-10 school sports.  Blogs following other college teams or college sports in general have to be pretty exceptional to gain our interest, and sites about non-collegiate athletics would have to be truly fantastic.  Basically, the further your blog's subject matter is from Cal Sports, the more essential your blog will have to be to warrant our interest, and thus, a link exchange.

Reading/skipping past all of these inane comments broke the scroll wheel on my mouse.  What can I do?

Hit the "z" key.  I am going to say that again.  In all caps.  Watch this:  HIT THE Z KEY!  Not since the invention of the letter Z itself, has there been such a monumental discovery.  It'll take you right to the new comments that you have yet to read.  That way, even if the post has hundreds and hundreds of comments, you can find the new ones in a matter of second.

Actually, If you look at the top of the comments section on any post, you'll see posted a number of keyboard shortcuts which allow for quick navigation of the comments section.  "C" tabs forward through new comments, while "Shift-C" will tab backwards.  "X" will mark the current comment as read, while "Shift-A" will mark all comments as read.  The magical "Z" key combines both "C" and "X" to mark a comment as read and move onto the next one, while "R" will allow you to reply to the current comment.

2012

Sept. 1- vs. Nevada
Sept. 8 - vs. Southern Utah
Sept. 15 - at Ohio State
Sept. 22 - at USC
Sept. 29 - vs. Arizona State
Oct. 6 - vs. UCLA
Oct. 13 - at Washington State
Oct. 20 - vs. Stanford
Oct. 27 - at Utah
Nov. 2 (Friday) - vs. Washington
Nov. 10 - vs. Oregon
Nov. 17 - vs. at Oregon State
Nov. 24 - BYE

2013 (need one game)
Aug. 31 - Northwestern
Sept. 14 - Ohio State
at Arizona
Colorado
at UCLA
USC
at Oregon
Oregon State
at Washington
Washington State
at Stanford

2014 (need two games)
Aug. 30 - at Northwestern
Arizona
at Colorado
UCLA
at USC
Oregon
at Oregon State
Washington
at Washington State
Stanford

2015 (need two games)
at Texas
at Arizona St.
at UCLA
USC
Utah
at Oregon
Oregon St.
at Washington
Washington St.
at Stanford

2016 (need two games)
Texas
Arizona St.
UCLA
at USC
at Utah
Oregon
at Oregon St.
Washington
at Washington St.
Stanford

2017 and beyond
The Pac-12 and Big-10 have signed a non-conference scheduling agreement that will result in one game each year against a Big-10 team for every team in the Pac-12:

We could see six home-and-away series in 2017 and 2018 and then the matchups would shift. Another possibility is creating three pods of eight teams, four from each league, where each team would play the four from the other conference. These pods could be determined by teams' track record. Delany said the games likely would take place in the second, third and fourth weeks of the season, although he didn't rule out having them during the opening weekend.

From the SF Chronicle, an interesting look at college football scheduling. An excerpt:

[Steve] Holton [Cal's Deputy Director of Athletics] said that coach Jeff Tedford has "an A-B-C philosophy'' about scheduling. That is, each year he wants to play a school from the A list -- a BCS-caliber team from a major conference. He wants a B team from the Mountain West or the Western Athletic Conference. And he wants a C team, or, as Holton said, "somebody you think you have a pretty good opportunity to beat.''

Arkansas up, LSU down.  Oklahoma up, Oklahoma State down.  Nevada up, Boise State down.  Alabama and Arizona get off rather lightly for losing to the #1 and #2 teams in the country.  Nothing shocking here, really.

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 14

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oregon Ducks	--
2	Auburn Tigers	--
3	TCU Horned Frogs	1
4	Wisconsin Badgers	2
5	Stanford Cardinal	--
6	Ohio St. Buckeyes	2
7	Arkansas Razorbacks	5
8	Michigan St. Spartans	2
9	Oklahoma Sooners	4
10	Nebraska Cornhuskers	4
11	Boise St. Broncos	-8
12	LSU Tigers	-5
13	Nevada Wolf Pack	6
14	Missouri Tigers	1
15	Alabama Crimson Tide	-4
16	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	-7
17	Virginia Tech Hokies	-1
18	South Carolina Gamecocks	-1
19	Texas A&M Aggies	-1
20	Florida St. Seminoles	1
21	Utah Utes	2
22	West Virginia Mountaineers	--
23	Arizona Wildcats	-3
24	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	--
25	Northern Illinois Huskies	--
Dropouts: N.C. State Wolfpack, Iowa Hawkeyes

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

As always justifications after the jump, including my take on why Boise State is still above Nevada.

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Clearly, we are all numbed by this college football season.  With our collective psyche pummeled into the turf at Memorial Stadium by Andrew Luck & Co., it's hard to muster much enthusiasm for anything.  The 'Furd moves up two into the "best 1-loss team" category, but the rest of the Top 6 stays the same.  Beyond that, a ranked Nebraska team drops 6 slots after losing at a ranked Texas A&M team, and nobody else moves more than 2 spots.  Maybe it's because the teams we thought were good all pretty much won, or because at this point in the season, with so many games played, it's hard to justify large swings based on one additional game of information, but I like to think it's because we, as voters, have just kinda stopped caring.

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 13

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oregon Ducks	--
2	Auburn Tigers	--
3	Boise St. Broncos	--
4	TCU Horned Frogs	--
5	Stanford Cardinal	2
6	Wisconsin Badgers	--
7	LSU Tigers	-2
8	Ohio St. Buckeyes	1
9	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	2
10	Michigan St. Spartans	--
11	Alabama Crimson Tide	1
12	Arkansas Razorbacks	2
13	Oklahoma Sooners	2
14	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-6
15	Missouri Tigers	-2
16	Virginia Tech Hokies	2
17	South Carolina Gamecocks	-1
18	Texas A&M Aggies	1
19	Nevada Wolf Pack	-2
20	Arizona Wildcats	1
21	Florida St. Seminoles	2
22	N.C. State Wolfpack	--
23	Utah Utes	--
24	Iowa Hawkeyes	--
25	Northern Illinois Huskies	--
Dropouts: USC Trojans, Northwestern Wildcats, Mississippi St. Bulldogs

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Given the number of comments on the last two editions of this weekly post (0), maybe you've stopped caring too.  Thoughts and justifications after the jump.

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Not much movement in the Top 12 this week; Boise flips over TCU while Wisconsin edges above Stanfurd (83 points, Badgers?  Really?  That's just mean).  Some other teams move up, while the back end of our poll consists of some teams with varying degrees of dubious qualifications.

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 12

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oregon Ducks	--
2	Auburn Tigers	--
3	Boise St. Broncos	1
4	TCU Horned Frogs	-1
5	LSU Tigers	--
6	Wisconsin Badgers	1
7	Stanford Cardinal	-1
8	Nebraska Cornhuskers	--
9	Ohio St. Buckeyes	--
10	Michigan St. Spartans	--
11	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	--
12	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
13	Missouri Tigers	3
14	Arkansas Razorbacks	--
15	Oklahoma Sooners	2
16	South Carolina Gamecocks	6
17	Nevada Wolf Pack	2
18	Virginia Tech Hokies	3
19	Texas A&M Aggies	4
20	USC Trojans	--
21	Arizona Wildcats	-3
22	Northwestern Wildcats	--
23	Florida St. Seminoles	--
24	Iowa Hawkeyes	-11
25	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	-5
Dropouts: Utah Utes, Kansas St. Wildcats, North Carolina Tar Heels

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Some thoughts on the beauty contest at the top and other justifications after the jump.

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TCU jumps Boise State, but both teams still sit outside the Top 2.  Meanwhile, Les Miles eats grass and brings back the LSU voodoo magic.  (No, seriously, not a joke, not a euphemism:  Les Miles reached down during the game and ate part of the turf.  The man is crazy.)

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 11

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oregon Ducks	--
2	Auburn Tigers	--
3	TCU Horned Frogs	1
4	Boise St. Broncos	-1
5	LSU Tigers	11
6	Stanford Cardinal	1
7	Wisconsin Badgers	1
8	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-3
9	Ohio St. Buckeyes	5
10	Michigan St. Spartans	5
11	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	6
12	Alabama Crimson Tide	-6
13	Iowa Hawkeyes	--
14	Arkansas Razorbacks	5
15	Utah Utes	-6
16	Missouri Tigers	-4
17	Oklahoma Sooners	-6
18	Arizona Wildcats	-8
19	Nevada Wolf Pack	2
20	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	3
21	Virginia Tech Hokies	1
22	South Carolina Gamecocks	-4
23	Texas A&M Aggies	--
24	Kansas St. Wildcats	--
25	North Carolina Tar Heels	--
Dropouts: Baylor Bears, N.C. State Wolfpack, Syracuse Orange

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Elsewhere, we say goodbye to Baylor and Syracuse (how short your stay was!) and welcome some other teams to the Top 25.  I'll bet they won't last long, either.  Justifications after the jump.

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This week, our poll includes both Baylor AND Syracuse, but not a single team from Florida.  I swear this is not a basketball poll.

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 10

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oregon Ducks	1
2	Auburn Tigers	-1
3	Boise St. Broncos	--
4	TCU Horned Frogs	--
5	Nebraska Cornhuskers	8
6	Alabama Crimson Tide	1
7	Stanford Cardinal	2
8	Wisconsin Badgers	--
9	Utah Utes	1
10	Arizona Wildcats	2
11	Oklahoma Sooners	4
12	Missouri Tigers	-6
13	Iowa Hawkeyes	4
14	Ohio St. Buckeyes	-3
15	Michigan St. Spartans	-10
16	LSU Tigers	-2
17	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	5
18	South Carolina Gamecocks	1
19	Arkansas Razorbacks	-1
20	Baylor Bears	3
21	Nevada Wolf Pack	4
22	Virginia Tech Hokies	--
23	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	-2
24	N.C. State Wolfpack	--
25	Syracuse Orange	--
Dropouts: Florida St. Seminoles, USC Trojans, Miami Hurricanes

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Surprise undefeateds Michigan State and Missouri see reality come crashing down on them, while Nebraska and Iowa move up.  Utah finally plays another good team, getting by Air Force to set up their showdown vs. TCU.  Justifications after the jump.

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I'd like to start out by saying that I don't believe that Auburn is the best team in the country.  However, I do believe that, at this point in time, they have the best résumé in the country, and that's why they jump Oregon despite the Ducks' shellacking of UCLA (oh, like nobody else has done that this year).

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 9

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Auburn Tigers	1
2	Oregon Ducks	-1
3	Boise St. Broncos	--
4	TCU Horned Frogs	--
5	Michigan St. Spartans	1
6	Missouri Tigers	14
7	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
8	Wisconsin Badgers	2
9	Stanford Cardinal	2
10	Utah Utes	-1
11	Ohio St. Buckeyes	2
12	Arizona Wildcats	5
13	Nebraska Cornhuskers	2
14	LSU Tigers	-6
15	Oklahoma Sooners	-10
16	Florida St. Seminoles	-2
17	Iowa Hawkeyes	-5
18	Arkansas Razorbacks	1
19	South Carolina Gamecocks	-3
20	USC Trojans	2
21	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	3
22	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	-4
23	Baylor Bears	--
24	Miami Hurricanes	-1
25	Nevada Wolf Pack	--
Dropouts: West Virginia Mountaineers, Kansas St. Wildcats

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Elsewhere, Missouri finally beats a respectable opponent and moves up into our Top 10; Les Miles' magic voodoo bag finally runs out; and we welcome Baylor(!) to our poll (and no, this is not a basketball poll).  Justifications after the jump:

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ragnarok:  Did any of the rest of you watch football after Cal bent over at USC?  I didn't have the stomach for it, and instead watched the NLCS.

Norcalnick:  I didn't watch any college football after Cal went down 28-0.  I refuse to apologize for it!

Yellow Fever:  I actually missed most of the first quarter of the Cal game because I was out helping a friend move (as opposed to helping a friend stay put, which would have been easier. I would have just made sure she did not start to load sh*t onto a truck.), and then got back to my place with the game in progress. I fired up ESPN and saw that we were already down 14 points and that Riley was 0/5 at that point. Then I went and took a shower, and by the time I got back we were down 28-0. At this point, I wasn't even upset. Being a Nets season ticket holder hardens you to all kinds of disappointment because you realize, well, what's the point? Our team sucks and isn't going to win, so I might as well enjoy the t-shirt toss and ogle the cheerleaders.

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 8

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oregon Ducks	--
2	Auburn Tigers	3
3	Boise St. Broncos	--
4	TCU Horned Frogs	--
5	Oklahoma Sooners	3
6	Michigan St. Spartans	5
7	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
8	LSU Tigers	5
9	Utah Utes	1
10	Wisconsin Badgers	11
11	Stanford Cardinal	1
12	Iowa Hawkeyes	6
13	Ohio St. Buckeyes	-11
14	Florida St. Seminoles	3
15	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-9
16	South Carolina Gamecocks	-7
17	Arizona Wildcats	-2
18	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	6
19	Arkansas Razorbacks	-3
20	Missouri Tigers	--
21	West Virginia Mountaineers	4
22	USC Trojans	--
23	Miami Hurricanes	--
24	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	--
25	Kansas St. Wildcats	--
Dropouts: Nevada Wolf Pack, Air Force Falcons, Oregon St. Beavers, Michigan Wolverines, Florida Gators

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

The usual justifications after the jump.

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We've got a new #1, and a few new faces in the top ten.  Oregon State reenters and Florida holds on despite two losses apiece, and the Big East gets back on our ballot (barely).

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 7

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oregon Ducks	1
2	Ohio St. Buckeyes	2
3	Boise St. Broncos	--
4	TCU Horned Frogs	1
5	Auburn Tigers	7
6	Nebraska Cornhuskers	--
7	Alabama Crimson Tide	-6
8	Oklahoma Sooners	-1
9	South Carolina Gamecocks	11
10	Utah Utes	1
11	Michigan St. Spartans	-1
12	Stanford Cardinal	-3
13	LSU Tigers	--
14	Nevada Wolf Pack	2
15	Arizona Wildcats	-7
16	Arkansas Razorbacks	1
17	Florida St. Seminoles	4
18	Iowa Hawkeyes	-3
19	Air Force Falcons	5
20	Oregon St. Beavers	--
21	Wisconsin Badgers	1
22	Michigan Wolverines	-8
23	Florida Gators	-5
24	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	-1
25	West Virginia Mountaineers	--
Dropouts: Miami Hurricanes, Northwestern Wildcats

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Overall, I think this ballot is not our finest effort.  Basically, I take the aggregate of votes from Yellow Fever, Norcalnick, Berkelium97 and myself, and average everything out points-wise to get an average poll, which you see here.  Usually this results in something pretty reasonable, but I've got a few quibbles here.  Namely, Alabama is still above South Carolina, despite both having just one loss.  Utah flips with Michigan State, as though a beatdown of Iowa State were more impressive than beating previously unbeaten Michigan in the Big House.  Stanfurd beats USC and drops three places (perhaps karma for rushing the field after their ranked team beat an unranked foe at home).

Anyway, we do have some justifications for these opinions.  You'll find them after the jump.

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Big wins for Alabama and Oregon last Saturday, as the Crimson Tide solidifies its hold on #1 and the Ducks leapfrog Boise State and Ohio State into the #2 spot.

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 6

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
2	Oregon Ducks	2
3	Boise St. Broncos	--
4	Ohio St. Buckeyes	-2
5	TCU Horned Frogs	--
6	Nebraska Cornhuskers	1
7	Oklahoma Sooners	7
8	Arizona Wildcats	--
9	Stanford Cardinal	-3
10	Michigan St. Spartans	10
11	Utah Utes	-2
12	Auburn Tigers	3
13	LSU Tigers	-3
14	Michigan Wolverines	2
15	Iowa Hawkeyes	3
16	Nevada Wolf Pack	1
17	Arkansas Razorbacks	-5
18	Florida Gators	-5
19	Miami Hurricanes	2
20	South Carolina Gamecocks	-1
21	Florida St. Seminoles	2
22	Wisconsin Badgers	-11
23	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	--
24	Air Force Falcons	--
25	Northwestern Wildcats	--
Dropouts: N.C. State Wolfpack, West Virginia Mountaineers, USC Trojans

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Welcome to the poll, Oklahoma State, Air Force, and Northwestern.  I'll bet all three are gone by November.  More justifications after the jump:

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What is the value of an athletic program to a college or university?  Why would an academic institution, with a core mission consisting of education and research, commit not-inconsiderable resources towards fielding, training and promoting intercollegiate athletic squads that use a disproportionately large amount of both capital and facilities relative to the small membership on such teams?  And, even recognizing that these teams do* provide benefits to the campus at-large, what is the value of such benefits, and does it outweigh the cost of the resources necessary to produce them?

In short, the recent budget crisis within both the University of California and the State as a whole compels the Athletic Department at Berkeley to justify both its existence and its scope.  While I don't foresee the Athletic Department's existence being threatened any time soon, the recent cuts of baseball, men's and women's gymnastics, and women's lacrosse, along with the demotion of Rugby, have made it clear that the department's scope of competition was well beyond its means.

Looking at Athletics' grim budgetary figures, it is not surprising to me that cuts had to come.  The mounting pile of debt was not close to sustainability, and the Chancellor and the Athletic Director were presented with no good options to address the structural shortfall.  Do I agree that Chancellor Birgeneau and AD Barbour selected the "least bad" options?  Not really.  But not only is that the subject of another article, but I do at least recognize that it is far, far easier to criticize these decisions than to have had to make such unpalatable choices myself; I do believe that whatever options Sandy Barbour chose, she was going to get raked over the coals anyway.

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Another week, another Top 25.  For those interested, here's the conference representation counts:

SEC - 6
Big 10 - 5
Pac-10 - 4
ACC - 3
Big XII - 2
Mountain West - 2
WAC - 2
Big East - 1

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 5

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
2	Ohio St. Buckeyes	--
3	Boise St. Broncos	3
4	Oregon Ducks	1
5	TCU Horned Frogs	-1
6	Stanford Cardinal	9
7	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-4
8	Arizona Wildcats	1
9	Utah Utes	1
10	LSU Tigers	6
11	Wisconsin Badgers	3
12	Arkansas Razorbacks	-1
13	Florida Gators	--
14	Oklahoma Sooners	-7
15	Auburn Tigers	2
16	Michigan Wolverines	2
17	Nevada Wolf Pack	6
18	Iowa Hawkeyes	2
19	South Carolina Gamecocks	-7
20	Michigan St. Spartans	--
21	Miami Hurricanes	--
22	N.C. State Wolfpack	--
23	Florida St. Seminoles	--
24	West Virginia Mountaineers	-5
25	USC Trojans	-1
Dropouts: Texas Longhorns, Oregon St. Beavers, Air Force Falcons

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

After the jump, we'll have opinions/justifications for this ballot.  Feel free to chime in and disagree!

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This past summer, the Chancellor's Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics released their final report analyzing the current woeful fiscal state of Cal's Athletic Department and recommending a number of steps that must be taken to get the department back on solid financial ground.  There were also recommendations for further, more drastic steps, of which some but not necessarily all need to be taken.

Over the next week or so, I'll be taking a look at the various recommendations made by the committee, as well as some tangental implications of the issues raised by the Athletic Department's financial crisis.  Part of the blame for this financial crisis must certainly fall at the feet of the national intercollegiate athletic landscape, a system which at times seems to positively abhor fiscal restraint.  When a school (Alabama) is willing to shell out $32 million dollars over 8 years to pay its head football coach (an average salary 34 times larger than that of the typical professor at Alabama), something in the system must we be broken.  When that coach then leads his team to a national title within 3 years, triggering massive alumni donations that help ensure none of the coach's salary comes from taxpayer money, we begin to understand why the system might be broken.

Today, we'll look at the potential for top-down changes to this culture that could help to bring down expenses across the country, with the Committee recommending that Chancellor Birgeneau use his position to take a leadership role in this movement.  However, in examining the proposals put forth, I remain skeptical of the prospects for real change, as there is too much focus on limiting allowable expenditures, and not nearly enough on alleviating the enormous pressure to throw money at big-time college football, pressure that drives the spiraling costs in the first place.

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As of this writing, there are over 1200 people signed up to attend a public Facebook event with the sobering title, "Protest Cal Versity Rugby Becoming A 'Club Sport.'"

What?!?

Two initial reactions:
- Why in the world would Cal relegate Rugby to "club" status?
- If this were really an imminent move, 1200 people isn't nearly the amount of support that Cal Rugby deserves.  Not even close.

But is this move imminent?  If you'd just read the article in the Daily Cal, which is based mostly off this Facebook group and a blog post by rugby alumnus and supporter Jeff Warren, you'd might think it is.  These sources are in turn based off a copy of a purported email to Sandy Barbour from Jack Clark (as well as Warren's personal conversations with Clark) and a Chronicle article written by John Crumpacker, which in turn is based almost entirely on the final report from the Chancellor's Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics, which was issued earlier this Summer.  Other sources are variously quoted, but they generally consist of University officials saying nothing interesting or refusing to comment, worried coaches stating that they have no idea what is going to happen, and background sources stating oft-repeated and generally available facts, such as the fact that Pac-10 membership requires a school to field teams in football, men's and women's basketball, and women's volleyball.  In other words, no new information whatsoever.

What we have here, then, is a two-source story (the Chancellor's Committee report and Jack Clark), neither of which actually know what is going to happen.  What I've seen over the past few days of reading online articles is bloggers and commentators becoming increasingly worried over a fear that, while a real possibility, I would argue is overblown by speculation and the viral nature of the internet.

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Three weeks under our belt now, and things are starting to come into focus.  Most teams have played at least one real opponent by now, so while things will continue to jump around in the coming weeks, the overall oscillation should lessen.  'Bama and the Buckeyes retain our top two spots, but the top 3 has a party-crasher in Nebraska.

The California Golden Blogs Ballot - Week 4

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
2	Ohio St. Buckeyes	--
3	Nebraska Cornhuskers	7
4	TCU Horned Frogs	-1
5	Oregon Ducks	-1
6	Boise St. Broncos	-1
7	Oklahoma Sooners	-1
8	Texas Longhorns	--
9	Arizona Wildcats	7
10	Utah Utes	-3
11	Arkansas Razorbacks	6
12	South Carolina Gamecocks	--
13	Florida Gators	--
14	Wisconsin Badgers	--
15	Stanford Cardinal	4
16	LSU Tigers	-5
17	Auburn Tigers	3
18	Michigan Wolverines	-3
19	West Virginia Mountaineers	--
20	Iowa Hawkeyes	-11
21	Miami Hurricanes	-3
22	Oregon St. Beavers	2
23	Nevada Wolf Pack	--
24	USC Trojans	-1
25	Air Force Falcons	-3
Dropouts: California Golden Bears, Pittsburgh Panthers

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Elsewhere, while Arizona's victory over Iowa surprised many (not me! I voted the Wildcats above the Hawkeyes last week, and have an email to prove it), and Arkansas beats Georgia between the Hedges as the Ryan Mallett bandwagon starts to fill.  More justifications for these varied opinions after the jump.

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