SB Nation User Blog: ragnarok

Bye Week Open Thread

ragnarok — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:03:59 -0000

And to think, my Thanksgiving weekend was going so well.

I drove down to San Diego on Wednesday to visit the in-laws for Thanksgiving, had a lovely dinner, got some drinks with some of her friends, did some holiday shopping, and watched Battlestar Galactica for the first time. I even taught my mother-in-law how to play Wii for the first time. That was fun. I was going to drive back to the Bay Area this morning, hoping to get back early enough to catch part of the Civil War, and then help a friend move on Sunday, but alas, it is not meant to be. Found out late last night that my car refuses to start, and I don't know why (already tried jumping it). Gonna call AAA in the morning, but until this gets figured out, I'm stuck in Southern California until further notice. No plans, nothing to do but sit around and watch a bunch of football today.

So, anyway, here's what I'll be watching:

Broadcast TV:
#22 Georgia Tech @ #11 Georgia, 9:00AM - CBS
Auburn @ #1 Alabama, 12:30PM - CBS
#4 Florida @ #20 Florida State, 12:30PM - ABC
#3 Oklahoma @ #12 Oklahoma State, 5:00PM - ABC

Four rivalry games featuring seven ranked teams, and I'm really only expecting Oklahoma at Oklahoma State to be close. An upset Cowboy victory would straighten out the Big XII South and send Texas Tech to the conference title game, leaving Texas the luxury of sitting around and waiting for a BCS bid. Oklahoma, on the other hand, could use some style points to stay ahead of Texas; simply beating the 'Pokes may not be enough to get them to Kansas City. Either way, I think the only way Texas is denied a BCS bid is if Oklahoma wins, but so poorly that Texas passes them, where the Longhorns somehow lose to Missouri in the title game.

Meanwhile, Alabama and Florida get tuneups before the SEC title game, though, as the cliché goes, rivalry games can be unnecessarily difficult. I think both the Crimson Tide and the Gators assure themselves of a BCS berth simply by winning today.

Basic Cable:
Virginia @ Virginia Tech, 9:00AM - ESPN
South Carolina @ Clemson, 9:00AM - ESPN2
Kansas @ #13 Missouri, 9:30AM - Versus
Maryland @ #21 Boston College, 12:30PM - ESPN2
Baylor @ #7 Texas Tech. 12:30PM - Comcast Sports Net Bay Area
Kentucky @ Tennessee, 3:30PM - ESPN2
#23 Oregon @ #17 Oregon State, 4:00PM - Versus
Notre Dame @ #5 USC, 5:00PM - ESPN

I hope you get Versus; if you don't, find a friend (or a bar) that does. With a Rose Bowl berth on the line, I'm expecting this Civil War to be a doozy; let's say ... decided late on some clutch (or not-so-clutch) field goal kicking. If that doesn't sufficiently intrigue you, know this: in all likelihood, an Oregon State victory sends Cal to the Holiday Bowl, while an Oregon upset kicks the Bears down to the Emerald.

The rest of the slate features some surprisingly non-intriguing rivalry games. Battles in Virginia and South Carolina just don't compel me, and calling Maryland at BC a rivalry only proves how screwed up the ACC expansion was. I will be shocked if ND or Baylor comes within 4 touchdowns of USC or Texas Tech, and the thing that puzzles me most is this: Tennessee has, like, 4 different rivals in the SEC (Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Vanderbilt), and they end the season with Kentucky? Kentucky? Maybe I'd care if it were a basketball game...

Pay-Per-View or No TV:
Syracuse @ #16 Cincinnati, 9:00AM
Washington State @ Hawai'i, 8:00PM

Cincy has already clinched the Big East title, making their home game against Syracuse even less compelling. Meanwhile, Wazzu mercifully ends its season in Hawai'i, which is a pretty nice consolation prize for such a terrible, terrible season of football.

Oh, and when the Civil War is done, since I'll still be stuck in SoCal, I'll turn to my trusty ESPN Gametracker to follow the finals of the Global Sports Classic featuring:

California vs. Florida State, 7:30PM

In case you hadn't heard, the Bears topped UNLV in the tournament's opening game last night (no, those two games last week don't count) 73-55. I especially liked Jerome Randle's line:

18 points on 5-11 shooting, including 4-5 beyond the arc and 4-4 on free throws, 6 rebounds, 8 assists to only 4 turnovers, and a steal.

5 Bears scored in double figures, and the Cal defense held UNLV to less than 30% shooting. They take on 6-0 Florida State tonight, and while I think this is a game the Bears can win, they haven't yet played back-to-back games this season, so we'll see how well the defense holds up on tired legs.

GoldenBlogs Top 25 - Week 13

ragnarok — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:46:19 -0000

Coming up with a Top 25 this week presented me with three distinct problems, each easily ignorable if you didn't want to think too hard about it, but more nagging the more I tried to resolve them.

• First, how do I find 25 teams that are worthy of being ranked?
• Second, is Alabama really the best team in the country? Have they done the most? Do they have the best résumé, and should I rank them #1 even if I think Florida is a better team and will beat them on a neutral field?
• Third, how do I sort out the Texas-Oklahoma-Texas Tech mess at the top of the Big XII South?

The first question was the easiest to answer: simply find out whoever was leading the ACC this week and pencil them in at the back of my ballot. Yeah, most teams, at this point in the year, have some major black marks on their résumés, and the trick is to simpy sort out those teams with the fewest negatives and the most positives to balance them out. Besides, worrying too much about the bottom of the Top 25 is something even I know better than to do.

The other two questions, however, were trickier.

Alabama vs. Florida. On the surface, it's an easy answer: Alabama is the last major-conference undefeated team, and so is #1. I'll bet most voters didn't give it much thought. But I'll bet Florida will be favored to win the SEC title game. At this point, 'Bama probably deserves to be #1, but I think it's worth examining their résumés. Obviously, since they're both in the same conference, they're going to have a bunch of common opponents. Let's examine:

	Alabama	Florida
@Tennessee	W 29-9	W 30-6
Mississippi	W 24-20	L 30-31
@ Arkansas	W 49-14	W 38-7
LSU	@ W 27-21 OT	W 51-21
Kentucky	W 17-14	W 63-5
@ Georgia	W 41-30	W 49-10

Blowout wins at Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia are basically a wash. Alabama struggled with Kentucky and at LSU, needing overtime to pull out the second win, while Florida handled both opponents with ease. However, while both teams struggled against Mississippi, Alabama managed to pull out a win where Florida failed. Both teams played fairly middling teams the rest of their schedules, never coming close to defeat in any of them, though Florida's win over Miami is probably more impressive than Alabama's win at Clemson, and the Gators do have a date at Florida State this weekend, while 'Bama gets the Iron Bowl vs. Auburn.

So, the question is, do two markedly superior performances vs. LSU and Kentucky balance out the fact that, in struggling with Mississippi, 'Bama found a way to win where Florida did not? How much should 'not losing' count for? Should we judge the Crimson Tide a superior team because they played three opponents close but managed to win them all, whereas the Gators have soundly beaten every opponent but one, yet they lost to that one? Is Alabama good, or just lucky? Does just winning matter, or should we also consider how these teams won?

I went with Florida this week. HydroTech and CBKWit went with Alabama, which is why they top our Top 25.

Finally, the Big XII South. Texas beat Oklahoma, who beat Texas Tech, who beat Texas. Based on their performance against Oklahoma, it's pretty clear that the Red Raiders are going to be third in the pecking order, but how do we choose between Texas and Oklahoma? The Longhorns won the head-to-head matchup, but Oklahoma looked much stronger in defeating Texas Tech than Texas did in falling to the Red Raiders. Which do we consider stronger evidence of superiority? How much should performance vs. common opponents come into play when we have a head-to-head matchup on a neutral field to consider? Even worse, if all three of these teams win this weekend, the Big XII South winner will be determined by, *gulp*, BCS Standings. No wonder the AP wanted out of this thing.

Frankly, I think Oklahoma should come out on top, and I think I can speak for all Cal fans when I say, "Suck on that, Texas!"

What do you think? Alabama or Florida? Texas or Oklahoma? What would you do?

While you're pondering that, here's the rest of this week's Top 25:

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama	1
2	Florida	1
3	Oklahoma	2
4	Texas	--
5	Southern Cal	1
6	Penn State	1
7	Texas Tech	6
8	Ohio State	1
9	Utah	1
10	Oklahoma State	--
11	Missouri	1
12	Boise State	1
13	Georgia	2
14	TCU	--
15	Cincinnati	5
16	Oregon State	2
17	Ball State	--
18	Oregon	8
19	Georgia Tech	7
20	Michigan State	5
21	Boston College	5
22	Florida State	4
23	Brigham Young	7
24	Mississippi	1
25	Northwestern	1

Dropped Out: LSU (#19), Pittsburgh (#21), Maryland (#22), North Carolina (#23), Miami (Florida) (#24).

DBD 11.25.08 - Cal's Bowl Possibilities

ragnarok — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 08:51:46 -0000

Man, I sleep at the wrong times to do one of these. I'm almost always in bed before the Daily Show, and by the time I get up in the morning, someone else (Twist) has already done one of these. I'm only doing this now because I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep.

Anyway, today's DBD will feature less "Gossip Girl" references and obsessing about my facial hair, and more actual information. Don't get used to it.

With the win over Stanford, Cal can now finish no lower than in a tie for 4th place in the conference, so the Bears can safely ignore the Hawai'i and Poinsettia Bowls, the latter of which will definitely be shopping for an at-large team, while the former only might be. Cal will fall no lower than the Emerald Bowl, that much I am sure of. In fact, it seems our bowl destination will hinge almost entirely on the outcome of the Civil War; if the Beavers win, Cal goes to San Diego, whereas if the Ducks win, the Bears stay home in San Francisco.

This conclusion rests on a couple of assumptions, and for a while now I've been looking for some sort of confirmation of them; tonight, I've finally found it. First, from Okanes' story on bowl possibilities:

Cal, which begins the week tied for fourth place, can't finish second, but the Bears could tie Oregon for third if Oregon State wins the conference and goes to the Rose Bowl and USC places second and is picked for a Bowl Championship Series game. In that event, the Holiday Bowl would get its choice between the Bears and Ducks.

Holiday Bowl executive director Bruce Binkowski said Monday that Cal likely would get the bid because it won the head-to-head matchup against Oregon.

"Historically, what we do in the case of a tie is look at who had the edge head-to-head," Binkowski said. "It's pretty difficult to not take the team that won."

When asked if there was any reason to believe the Holiday Bowl would change that criteria this season, Binkowski said: "No. It's the right thing to do."

Secondly, I wondered if, should the Ducks win and the Bears finish all alone in 4th, whether the Emerald Bowl could reach up from their 5th place selection spot and snap the Bears. Well, they can, and based on everything I've heard, they almost certainly would. From the Emerald Bowl's Executive Director:

Q: What are the tiebreakers used to figure out which Pac-10 team goes to which bowl?

Example - two teams have the same record for 4th in the Pac-10. Is it simply head to head? If more than two teams--say three teams--are tied for 4th, what determines who goes to the Emerald Bowl?

Thanks,

Derek

A: Thanks for the question, Derek. The Pacific-10 Conference has a very elaborate tie-breaker formula for the conference championship, but when there are ties for other spots in the conference standings, there are no tie-breaker procedures in place and the bowl partners have flexibility in making their selections.

This year, the Pac-10 bowl lineup is as follows:

No. 1 - Rose

No. 2 - Holiday

No. 3 - Sun

No. 4/5 - Las Vegas

No. 4/5 - Emerald

No. 6 - Hawaii

No. 7 - Poinsettia

If two teams are tied for second place, the Holiday can take either of the tied teams, and so on. Our case is unique in that the Emerald Bowl shares No. 4 and 5 with the Las Vegas Bowl. Each year, one of us has "priority." Las Vegas has the priority this year; we had it last year and will have it again in '09.

So, to use your example, if two or more teams are tied for fourth in the league this year, there is no tie-breaker procedure to determine who goes where. We will consult with the Las Vegas Bowl and hopefully decide which team is the best fit for each bowl. If we want the same team, Las Vegas will get the first pick and we will take the other team (or, in the case of a three-way tie, whichever of the teams remain).

There are a couple of other wrinkles in the Pac-10 bowl arrangements. The Sun Bowl, at No. 3, can exercise a "no repeat" clause and bypass the third place team. This happened last year when the Sun passed on Oregon State and we were fortunate enough to be able to select the Beavers.

And if there is one team in fourth place and one or more teams in fifth, either Las Vegas or Emerald can choose a fifth place team, but then the other bowl must take the fourth place team. In other words, the two bowls cannot choose two teams tied for fifth and leave No. 4 behind.

So, really, it's pretty simple, and it pretty much all comes down to the Civil War, Saturday at 4PM. However, neither the Sun nor the Las Vegas Bowls are completely eliminated. Here are a couple highly unlikely scenarios that land the Bears in either Bowl:

Sun - Oregon State beats Oregon, but USC loses one of its last two games, fails to earn an at-large BCS bid, and goes to the Holiday Bowl instead. The Bears are tied with Oregon for third, and since the Ducks went to El Paso last year, the Sun Bowl selects the Bears.

Las Vegas - USC and Oregon State win out, but the Bears lose to Washington, and Arizona State fails to win out and become bowl-eligible. With 2 teams in the BCS but only 5 bowl-eligible teams, only the Holiday, Sun, and Las Vegas Bowls get Pac-10 teams this year, and the Bears end up in a 4th-place tie with Arizona. The Sun Bowl takes the Wildcats, and the Vegas Bowl takes the only Pac-10 team left, the Bears.

Neither of these scenarios are likely (UW will be heavy underdogs against the Bears, as will both Notre Dame and UCLA vs. USC), and I very much doubt either will happen, but they're worth being aware of. Anyway, here's a few more linky-links:

Men's Basketball destroys North Carolina A&T:

Jerome Randle scored 20 points and Omondi Amoke added 11 points and four rebounds off the bench to lead California to an 82-47 win over North Carolina A&T on Monday night.

Patrick Christopher had 10 points and Jamal Boykin had nine points and seven rebounds for the Bears, who committed only nine turnovers while remaining unbeaten under first-year coach Mike Montgomery. Cal (4-0) had 12 different players score, led by as much as 37 and dominated on both ends of the floor while registering its most lopsided win since beating Long Beach State 102-65 on Dec. 28, 2007.

Robert Johnson had 14 points and six rebounds for North Carolina A&T (2-3). Unlike on Saturday when they gave UNLV a scare before losing 71-58, the Aggies weren't much of a threat and trailed nearly the entire game while shooting 33.3 percent from the floor.

The Bears, on the other hand, went into the game ranked second in the country in shooting percentage, a good portion of that due to Randle, who did nothing to hurt his numbers against the Aggies.

Also re: MBB, the article from the Chron:

Cal is four games into the tenure of coach Mike Montgomery, and about the only thing we know for sure about the Bears is that the starters are good cheerleaders.

Cal's starting five were once again in towel-waving mode for the final 7 1/2 minutes of Monday night's 82-47 blowout of North Carolina A&T at Haas Pavilion. They joined the crowd of 6,689 in cheering the three blocks of redshirt freshman center Max Zhang in garbage time.

"The games we've won are games we should have won," Montgomery said. "That's not to say that those teams couldn't beat us, but I would expect us to win."

And from the Cal Bears Examiner:

Montgomery has been preaching defense since before the start of the season and his team seems to be responding. NC A&T came into the game averaging nearly 40 rebounds, five blocks, and 10 steals per game, but weren't able to come close to that level of play at Haas Pavilion. It was Cal that looked like the defensive team while grabbing 38 rebounds, six steals, five blocked shots, and forced 19 turnovers. NC A&T was able to get 28 rebounds, but only one steal and four blocks, well below their season average.

For the game, Cal held the Aggies to 33.3% shooting (19-57) and only 11.8% from beyond the three-point line (2-17). Jamal Boykin led the Bears with seven rebounds and Jordan Wilkes (2 blocks) combined with Max Zhang (3 blocks) for all of the Bears' shot-blocking.

OK, that's it for my first attempt at a DBD. How did I do? At least better than HydroTech? Wait, wait, don't tell me, I don't want to know. I'm much to insecure to handle that kind of information. Just bring me some more links. Freshmen, more links!

Big Game Pregame and 1st Quarter Open Thread

ragnarok — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:49:02 -0000

It's Big Game, folks. Time to take back the Axe! Time to end this year of ignominy and shame. Time to do to these trees what we did to those in front of Memorial Stadium.

GIVE 'EM THE AXE! THE AXE!! THE AXE!!!

where?

RIGHT IN THE NECK! THE NECK!! THE NECK!!!

Verily.

If you haven't heard, our #7 Cal women's basketball team totally destroyed #3 Rutgers in Haas Pavilion last night. Reader BearStage provided an excellent FanPost report that you should definitely check out. And if you missed the game, it's going to be replayed on Comcast Channel 400 today at 2:30.

If you're not sufficiently hyped, here are some other games that might interest you:

Broadcast TV:
Michigan @ #10 Ohio State, 9:00AM - ABC
Mississippi @ #18 LSU, 12:30PM - CBS
Stanford @ California, 12:30PM - ABC
Syracuse @ Notre Dame, 12:30PM - NBC
#2 Texas Tech @ #5 Oklahoma, 5:00PM - ABC

Hey, waking up to Michigan - Ohio State isn't that bad, even if it does involve the worst Michigan team in history (true story -- this Michigan team has lost more games than any other team in the history of Wolverine football). Then, after Cal takes back this afternoon, head home (or to a good sports bar) for an absolutely HUGE Big XII South clash, with BCS Title Game and Heisman implications hanging in the balance.

Basic Cable:
West Virginia @ Louisville, 9:00AM - ESPN
Indiana @ Purdue, 9:00AM - ESPN
Yale @ Harvard, 9:00AM - Versus
#15 Michigan State @ #8 Penn State, 12:30PM - ESPN
Air Force @ #16 TCU, 12:30PM - Versus
#9 Boise State @ Nevada, 1:00PM - ESPN2
#21 Oregon State @ Arizona, 4:00PM - Versus
#20 Pittsburgh @ #19 Cincinnati, 4:15PM - ESPN2
Florida State @ #25 Maryland, 4:45PM - ESPN

If you don't live in the Bay Area (and thus aren't attending the Big Game), you may end up watching the Big 10 title game (whaaa? It's not Michigan - Ohio State this year?) between Michigan state and Penn State. The Nittany Lions can win the Land Grant Trophy and a trip to Pasadena in one fell swoop, whereas Sparty might just be playing the role of spoiler; I'm not sure how the tiebreakers work, but if they win, I think Ohio State goes to the Rose Bowl unless the Buckeyes somehow lose to the worst Michigan football team of all time.

If Oregon State is going to lose, I think it's going to happen tonight in Tucson. I hope you get Versus, because this is a game worth watching (I love watching BCS dreams die, don't you?). If you get bored, there are other games on with major BCS implications for conferences you don't care about (Big East, ACC).

Premium Cable:
Colordao State @ Wyoming, 11:00AM - The Mtn.
Washington @ Washington State, 12:00PM - Comcast SportsNet Bay Area
#14 BYU @ #7 Utah, 3:00PM - The Mtn.

Sadly, those of us at Big Game will miss the epic struggle for a win over a I-A opponent that is the Apple Cup. I can't say it will be good football, but I do think it will be compelling television.

Pay-Per-View or No TV:
North Carolina State @ #22 North Carolina, 9:00AM
Citadel @ #4 Florida, 10:30AM

Why is Florida hosting the Citadel on the fourth weekend in November? Why does that happen? Can anyone tell me?

This is the pregame and 1st quarter thread. Use it to discuss all the pregame and 1st quarter action. A 2nd quarter thread will appear before the start of the 2nd quarter (hopefully!).

Finally, we've been posting a lot recently. Check it: Inside The Numbers; YouTube Thurday, Roundtable, B-Ball Recap; Arizona analysis; Marshawn v. Browns; Top25; Bowl Scenarios; OSU Thoughts; Pete Newell Memories; Big Game Memories

Poll

How do you think Cal will play today in the Big Game?

Cal Basketball Blows Out UTPA, Proves Little

ragnarok — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:00:49 -0000

The Bears controlled this game almost from the opening tip.

Sometimes you can learn a lot from watching a 30-point blowout; I'm sure of it. Thursday night was not one of those times.

Instead, I witnessed the first round of the hideously non-descriptively-named "Global Sports Classic", a marketing debacle if ever there was one. I have no idea what is 'global' about this tournament, unless you take the Bears' opponent's name, 'Texas Pan-American', literally, and calling the first edition of something 'classic' is just a wee bit pretentious, don't you think? Moreover, the name of the tournament doesn't even imply basketball; "Global Sports Classic" could just as easily apply to a croquet club tournament in Duluth, MN, as it could to this bizarre manifestation of a college basketball tournament.

Moreover, I'm not even sure how these games work in the tournament. To guarantee TV ratings, I'm assuming, the tourney places the Bears directly into the final four of this tournament in Las Vegas with UNLV, Cincinnati, and Florida State, regardless of whether they win their first two games, last night's match vs. Texas Pan-American, and Monday night's tune-up vs. North Carolina A&T. Those two teams, plus two others (Coastal Carolina and Western Illinois) play the part of cannon fodder for two of the major teams each, and then are seeded directly in the "loser's bracket" regardless of whether they actually win one of these games or not. It's like these games don't even matter.

And in some sense, they don't. They're barely contests. The four "chump" teams in this tournament bring basically no name recognition or fan interest to the tournament, and they were all ranked between 234 and 278 by Ken Pomeroy's RPI last year. I honestly don't understand why these teams are in this tournament, or why the tournament is even 4 games long to begin with.

Anyway, enough ranting. UTPA (say "Opah!" in a loud and cheerful Greek accent) did manage to keep the game close for a little bit, holding leads of 6-2 and 11-8 before a 19-3 run by the Bears burried the Broncos and essentially ended the game before the half. It was painfully obvious that UTPA was no match for the Bears in any sense of the word, and the only suspense was whether Cal would let up and keep the Broncos in the game, or press their advantage and really put this game beyond reach. Thankfully, it was the latter.

Jamal Boykin's 18 points paced the Bears.

Though obviously you never want to read too much into a 27-point victory over a massively outgunned opponent, I did see a few encouraging signs:

• Other than the first few minutes, the Bears really got after it on defense. We saw almost none of the lazing around with a 10-point lead that marked the victories over Pacific and San Francisco. 9 steals by 7 different players makes for a lot of easy points.

• Speaking of getting after it, I really liked it when, in the middle of the first half, the Bears began applying full-court pressure. I'm not sure why Monty went to the press against UTPA -- perhaps something in the matchup suggested it would work. Nevertheless, it clearly harassed the Broncos and even led to a couple turnovers.

• Also regarding pressure, the Bears forced at least two shot-clock violations from UTPA, both times to due to 35 seconds of relentless, tiring defense. The Bears are by no means perfect defensively, but I think the improvement from the first game to this (the third) is definitely noticeable.

• Montgomery was finally able to empty his bench, getting everyone in on the action, including D.J. Seeley, who saw his first mintues as a Bear. Theo Robertson went to the bench with about 8 minutes to go, and he was the last starter still playing last night.

• Yes, the competition was suspect, but 23 assists to 11 turnovers is an encouraging statistic regardless of the opponent.

It's also quickly becoming apparent that Max Zhang is going to be a fan favorite. And why not? Sure, he's still a work in progress, but he also does things on the court that no one else can, blocking shots without jumping and drastically altering or discouraging the shots he doesn't get to.

However, due to the lopsided score, Max also got more action than he's seen before, and he responded by fouling out after just 8 minutes played.

Also discouraging: despite having the two tallest people in the building, the Bears were outrebounded 19-20, including giving up 12 offensive rebounds. Gotta do better than that, Bears.

For haltime entertainment, the Bears were treated to a demonstration from Cal's No. 7 women's volleyball team, stumping for more fans to make it out to their weekend matches with UCLA and USC. Indeed, the match vs. No. 9 UCLA should begin just about as this gets posted (5PM Friday).

Come watch us play! - Image via grfx.cstv.com

Anyway, I took a few photos of the halftime entertainment. Danzig, these are for you:

I also took a couple minutes of video, just so you can get a better feel of what the action is like. Enjoy!

Eating the Enemy : Stanfurd

ragnarok — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:11:32 -0000

Yellow Fever is on vacation this week, so the task of "Eating the Enemy" has fallen to me. And by me, I mean AndBears, who did pretty much all of the work in putting this post together.

BAKED RICE PILAF WITH PINE NUTS

2 tbsp. butter
1 med. sized onion
1 (10 1/2 oz.) size can chicken broth
3/4 c. water
1 c. long grain rice
1/2 c. toasted pine nuts.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In saucepan melt butter. Cook onion until tender. Add undiluted broth and water; heat to boiling. Stir in rice. Pour mixture into casserole. Cover and bake 30-40 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Mix in half pine nuts and stir. Sprinkle additional half on top and serve.

-----

So there you go. Tree bits for your meal, and lots of "nut-related" humor besides. For you vegetarians out there (hi Rishi!), you can replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth. I'm informed that many vegetarians don't have a problem with chicken broth, but there's a fair amount of debate amongst vegetarians/vegans on this issue. The best answer I've heard:

You can eat broth. Most cultures would still consider you vegetarian. Don't be giving your power away to a bunch of crazy people. Make you own decisions.

GoldenBlogs Top 25 - Week 12

ragnarok — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:44:07 -0000

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Texas Tech	--
2	Alabama	--
3	Florida	--
4	Texas	--
5	Oklahoma	--
6	Southern Cal	--
7	Penn State	--
8	Utah	--
9	Ohio State	1
10	Oklahoma State	2
11	Georgia	2
12	Missouri	1
13	Boise State	2
14	TCU	--
15	Michigan State	2
16	Brigham Young	3
17	Ball State	1
18	Oregon State	4
19	LSU	1
20	Cincinnati	3
21	Pittsburgh	--
22	Maryland	4
23	North Carolina	8
24	Miami (Florida)	2
25	Mississippi	1

Dropped Out: Florida State (#20), California (#25).

The top 8 stay the same this week, and most of the rest of the ballot only experiences minor shuffling. Of course, this is what you'd expect after a week in which none of the top teams were challenged, only one pair of AP ranked teams played each other (#25 South Carolina @ #4 Florida), and only a couple minor upsets occurred (both in the who-wants-to-win-it-not-me-how-about-you? ACC).

This weekend, however, promises a much better slate and a few more answers in several conference races.

- Penn State hosts Michigan State with the Land Grant Trophy and a Rose Bowl berth on the line. If Sparty can pull the upset, it would create a three-way tie atop the Big TEleveN, and probably send Ohio State to Pasadena.

- Texas Tech visits Oklahoma in a HUGE Big XII tussle. A Tech win gets them in the conference title game, whereas a loss creates a 3-wie tie atop the Big XII South. I really don't know who comes out on top there.

- BYU visits Utah in a game with BCS implications. Utah would basically secure a BCS bid with a win, while a loss would create, in what appears to be something of a recurring pattern, a 3-way tie for first.

- Oregon State puts its improbably Rose Bowl run on the line against Arizona in Tucson, a place where, in recent years, BCS dreams have gone to die.

- Some games will be played in the ACC. Favorites will lose, and I will continue to not pay any attention whatsoever.

- Meanwhile, Cincy and Pitt lead the Big East, and meet this weekend in Cincinnati to decide the front-runner. What bugs me about the Big East is that, because they only have 7 conference games, they can schedule up to 5 non-conference games, meaning if they line up a string of patsies, they can almost guarantee themselves a bowl berth. I don't care how tough your conference is, if you have a 1-6 conference record, you don't deserve to play in a bowl game.

Cal Football Bowl Scenarios

ragnarok — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:32:04 -0000

Well, with the last implausible Rose Bowl scenario finally dead, a lot of Cal fans are turning to the rest of the bowl schedule, wondering where they might be making a holiday trip this winter. Bowl scenarios have always been a complicated mess fraught with complicated contingencies and arcane rules, so it should come as no surprise that there's a fair amount of misinformation and uninformed speculation out there. Heck, even after spending hours last year researching bowl selection rules, I still had to be corrected by Ken Crawford and Jason Snell, among others. Thus, to try and clear things up for everyone, I present this concise guide to Pac-10 bowl selection procedures.

First off, the Pac-10 bowl tie-ins for 2008-09 are thus:

#1 Rose Bowl (BCS)
#2 Holiday Bowl
#3 Sun Bowl
#4 Las Vegas Bowl
#5 Emerald Bowl
#6 Hawai'i Bowl
#7 Poinsettia Bowl

I've seen some listings switching the order of the Vegas and Emerald Bowls, or listing them both as "#4 or #5", but the actual arrangement is that the bowls have an alternating agreement with the conference wherein the Las Vegas gets to pick fourth in '06 and '08, followed by the Emerald, whereas the Emerald gets to pick fourth in '07 and '09.

Before we do any other speculating, we need to know if the Pac-10 will get 2 teams in the BCS, and the simple answer is that it all depends if Oregon State wins out. USC is the only team with any shot at earning one of the 4 at-large BCS spots, so if the Beavs falter, USC will be the conference's lone representative in the BCS for the 6th consecutive year.

However, if Oregon State does complete their improbable run to the Rose Bowl, USC is almost a lock for the BCS. Not only are they an extremely attractive candidate for any of the BCS bowls, but there really aren't too many other options out there. Utah will earn a BCS bid if they can beat BYU, and if they don't, Boise State will probably take an automatic bid. Only 1 non-BCS school may earn an automatic bid in a given year, however, so if Utah and Boise (and Ball State) all go undefeated, it's likely only Utah will get in. 2 other at-large spots will be handed to the runners-up of the SEC and the Big XII South, but each of those conferences can get at most 2 BCS bids. It's unlikely that any ACC or Big East team will even qualify for at-large status, so the final spot will come down to USC or the Big 10 runner-up, most likely an Ohio State team that got flattened in the past two BCS title games, as well as by USC earlier this year. Given the choice between USC, Ohio State, and Boise State, I'm pretty sure bowls like the Sugar and the Orange would go with USC.

With that out of the way, let's take a look at the rest of the Pac-10's bowl tie-ins.

It's important to note that, except for the Rose Bowl, the Pac-10 does not have tiebreakers for the various bowls. If 2 or more teams tie for second place (or third, if two go to the BCS), the Holiday Bowl gets their choice amongst those teams. Most likely, Cal will be tied with at least one other team no matter where or how they finish, so then Cal's attractiveness (in terms of both TV audiences and the number of fans willing to travel) becomes a factor. Finishing the season on a high note can be critical.

So let's look at some scenarios:

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl

via www.sportable.com

There is still a way for Cal to get to the Holiday: first, Oregon State wins out and the Pac-10 grabs two BCS bowls. Second, Cal wins out and finishes in a tie for third with Oregon at 6-3. The Bears and the Ducks would have identical 8-4 records, and both would have been to San Diego recently (the Bears in '04 and '06, the Ducks in '05). For what it's worth, the Bears would also have the head-to-head win to go on, although I can't say if the Holiday would consider that at all. [EDIT: According to Jonathan Okanes, the Holiday would consider the head-to-head matchup the tiebreaker, and definitely select the Bears over the Ducks.] I think this is a very plausible scenario, and the best way for the Bears to get to SD this winter.

Brut Sun Bowl

via www.uconnhuskies.com

There are plenty of ways for the Bears to get to El Paso should they win out, so much so that they're not worth discussing. Should the Sun get a choice, I'm almost certain the Bears would be favored over the Ducks, who beat South Florida in the Sun Bowl last year, and pretty confident they would be picked over a tailspinning Oregon State as well, as OSU visited El Paso the year before that. Especially given that Cal has never been to the Sun Bowl, I would think the Sun would have a strong incentive to keep the Bears from falling to Vegas. However, should Cal end up tied with Arizona, I think Arizona's 10-year bowl drought, plus Tucson's proximity to El Paso (4 1/2 hours down I-10), might make the Wildcats an even more attractive candidate for the Sun Bowl.

Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl

via unlvtickets.com

If the Bears win out, they almost certainly don't fall further than Vegas. In fact, if Oregon State wins out and goes to the Rose Bowl, there's a distinct possibility that the Vegas Bowl gets last pick of the eligible Pac-10 teams, and the Emerald Bowl has to go free-agent shopping. This is also a possible destination should the Bears lose to either Stanford or Washington *shudder*.

[EDIT: Also according to Okanes, the Emerald would talk about working out a deal with the Vegas Bowl to let Cal fall to them, should it come to that. That sounds pretty plausable, and since the Las Vegas and Emerald Bowls are basically on the same tier in terms of payout, exposure and prestige, it wouldn't really be a fall for the Bears. The one snag in this plan is that if the Pac-10 only gets 5 teams bowl eligible but gets two teams in the BCS, the Las Vegas Bowl might be left with the last available Pac-10 team. In such a case, they might be unwilling or unable to let the Bears go to the Emerald, given that Las Vegas would then have to scramble to find some free-agent team to fill their bowl slot.]

Emerald Bowl

via images.buildingthedam.com

If Cal is still available, it's almost certain that the Nut Bowl will take the Bears. It's really not worth worrying too much about any bowls beyond this one -- if the Bears can win the Big Game, I think we can safely look at the Emerald as a worst-case scenario. However, what if the Bears lose the Big Game but beat Washington and finish the season tied with Stanford with identical 5-4 conference records? Couple this with a failure on OSU's part to win out, and it's a very real possibility that the Emerald would get to choose between Cal and Stanford, and I honestly don't know which way they'd lean: Cal has a bigger fanbase, but Stanford would be much more excited about a bowl game, any bowl game.

Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl

via www.trevormatich.com

Fall past the Emerald, and the consolation prize ain't so bad: a December trip to Honolulu. If the Bears lose out like they did last year, this is quite possibly where they end up.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl

via comment.colostate.edu

¡Que desastre! To even fall this far, the Bears would have to lose out AND 7 Pac-10 teams would have to get to 6 wins. Losing out would get Stanford there, but either Arizona State or UCLA would also have to win their last two games to become eligible. Note that Arizona State hosts UCLA Thanksgiving weekend in a bowl elimination game, so there is no chance of 8 teams somehow becoming eligible and leaving the Bears home for the holidays -- the Bears are guaranteed to be invited to a bowl game. Honestly, I don't see either the Bruins or the Sun Devils winning out, but Arizona State (last game @ Arizona) obviously has a better shot at it than UCLA (last game vs. USC).

Prediction?

Forced to guess, I would bet the Bears end up in the Sun Bowl, where they've never played (they're the only Pac-10 school never to have done so). Sure, El Paso isn't exactly the vacation destination many of us had hoped for, but the Sun is actually a pretty good bowl: it's the second-oldest bowl game, behind only the Rose, having been played 74 times, its payout is pretty decent (in the $2M range), it's played on New Year's Eve, and the game is nationally broadcast on CBS (the only bowl CBS shows).

Poll

Which bowl game do you want to see the Bears play in?

Holiday

132 votes

Sun

51 votes

Las Vegas

37 votes

Emerald

24 votes

Hawai'i

9 votes

Poinsettia

4 votes

257 votes | Poll has closed

Bears Beat Pacific, Salvage Weekend For Cal Fans

ragnarok — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 07:51:45 -0000

After watching the Bears' frustrating and disappointing loss up in Corvallis yesterday, I needed some relief. I found some at the bottom of a beer bottle (the first couple didn't have any, so I had to keep looking), but I find the best way to ease the pain of a Cal defeat is to follow it up with a Cal victory. With that in mind, CBKWit and I headed over to Haas Pavilion yesterday evening to catch the season opener of the men's basketball team versus the University of the Pacific.

The only interesting shot I managed to take the entire game.

Overall, it was a good game, close enough to be interesting, but there was never really a doubt that Cal was in command. A couple times Pacific got within 6, but it never really felt like they had a run in them, and the Bears were able to hold off the Tigers and give Mike Montgomery his first victory at Cal. Here are CBKWit's and my thoughts on last night's victory:

- My (Ragnarok's) new favorite player: Jorge Gutierrez. By my count, he drew at least 4 fouls in the first half, and his infectious energy is exactly what our defense needs this year. He sort of reminds me of A.J. Diggs, if Diggs had any scoring ability whatsoever.

- Defense overall was pretty good in the first half. Only 20 points given up, and I don't think I saw any uncontested baskets by the Tigers. Not very many open shots at all. No, Pacific wasn't shooting lights-out, hands in their face or not, but it was definitely a nice defensive effort.

- One critical defensive improvement I noticed was ball pressure. Cal was pretty terrible in this area last year (watching Mitch Johnson, he of zero outside shot, get 5 feet to operate and feed the Lopez twins with ease comes to mind), but last night our guards (and forwards, when defending perimeter shooters) pressured Pacific beyond the arc. Braun's area of expertise was supposedly defense, but if you caught any of the games at Haas last year (Stanford, UW, and especially WSU and Oregon), you didn't see much defensive skill or, even more discouraging, effort. Last night, for the most part, our guys got after it.

- Defense got sloppier to open the second half, as Pacific managed to free up some shooters on the perimeter and knock down some long range shots. They cut a 16-point halftime lead in half, and this was about a 6-10 point game most of the way down the stretch.

- Offense was...interesting. It was fairly effective, but mostly because the Bears were fantastic from beyond the arc. Both Randle and Christopher hit a number of big shots from 3 as the play clock wound down, basically bailing out offensive sets where the Bears got very little going. When Theo manages to bank a 3 as time runs out, you know things are going Cal's way. These are good shooters, so it's not like the Bears were hitting a bunch of flukey shots (the bank shot notwithstanding), but it'd be nice if Cal had a little more going on inside.

- Jordan Wilkes can shoot a bit, but he's *so* weak to the basket. It's sometimes maddening. He does some nice things on the court, and deserves significant minutes, but despite his height, he's sometimes seems rather miscast as a center. The Bears could *really* use some inside presence, and I'm not sure that Wilkes provides that.

- Max Zhang is -- how you say -- not ready. He sometimes looks lost out there, getting confused trying to set screens against defensive players that have already moved past him. Keep giving him playing time, but I think it might be a couple years before Max is ready to take on a major role with this team.

- In fact, much of the inside defensive dirty work was performed by Jamal Boykin and Harper Kamp. Neither figured much on the offensive end, but each made their presence felt. Kamp, in particular, drew at least 3 charging fouls on the Tigers. The man sure knows how to flop.

- However, Boykin's presence wasn't felt as much as the Bears would have liked, as he fouled out (on a stupid foul, no less) with more than 7 minutes to go. With the lack of size depth that the Bears are already feeling, Boykin can't afford to foul out in stupid ways.

- Huge dunk by Max that brought the house down, though. Honestly, I'm not even sure if he had to jump to slam it home. He also had a nice one-handed bank putback late in the game, the sort of play only he can make because of his height. Turns out, we may need him to get better soon, as Jordan Wilkes went to the locker room grimacing with 4 minutes left. And he does have one significant advantage over Wilkes: even though he's very skinny, Wilkes is somehow even skinnier, and Max can set a screen that forces a defender to change his trajectory. When Wilkes turns sideways, he's practically invisible and it doesn't take much to avoid his picks.

- If you're a Cal Basketball fan who's been frustrated in the past by the sometimes brilliant but often inconsistent play of point guard Jerome Randle (which is to say, anyone who's been paying attention), I think you'll like the new and improved Randle. He really seems to have cleaned up his game, making smarter decisions and cutting down on stupid turnovers, and I would guess that Montgomery deserves some of the credit for that. Eddie Kleinhans said as much on the Cal Radio post game report at Looneys (food: decent; service: not so much), commenting that Montgomery's relationship with Randle would, to a large extent, determine the course of our season. He followed that by saying, from the few practices he's attended, it's clear they're working together very well. Randle himself deserves a lot of credit, for he's clearly worked on his game extensively in the offseason.

- Eddie also commented on how often Montgomery stops practice to teach when he sees something he doesn't like. Kleinhans didn't say this explicitly, but the implication was that this is completely different from the way Braun ran practice, and that the players were responding to instruction from the coaches. A coach that coaches - what a concept!

- Montgomery did make an interesting comment on the "Mike Montgomery Show" before the game on 1550AM, noting that Jorge would not be the backup point guard, but instead the duties would fall to either Nikola Knezevic or walk-on Nican Robinson. He wouldn't say who he favored (Nikola's not much of a shooter, but a good defender, while Nican is a bit undersized), but judging by the PT handed out by Monty during this game, it looks like Robinson has the early lead. Regardless, I think we're going to see 30+ minutes of Randle every night for the foreseeable future. This is not a bad thing.

Cal @ Oregon State 11.15.08 Pregame and 1st Quarter Open Thread

ragnarok — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:09:23 -0000

Broadcast TV:
Notre Dame @ Navy, 9:00AM - CBS
#25 South Carolina @ #4 Florida, 12:30PM - CBS
California @ Oregon State, 12:30PM - ABC
Boston College @ #19 Florida State, 5:00PM - ABC

If you're waking up early tomorrow, craving football, but you only have bunny ears on your TV, you're in luck: Notre Dame at Navy on CBS! Since Navy broke their record 43-game losing streak to the Irish last year, I can't think of any compelling reason to watch this year.

Looking for a flip-to channel during the Cal game? Well, CBS has South Carolina at Florida, the week's ONLY matchup of ranked teams. I will be shocked if the final is closer that two touchdowns. Honestly, it looks like a pretty dull slate this weekend, so either we'll see no upsets and collectively yawn, or a lot of major upsets and this will go down as one of those "Shakedown Saturdays" or whatever. Even the 5pm ABC game bores me. I'm glad I'm heading to Haas instead to watch the men's basketball season opener.

Basic Cable:
#11 Ohio State @ Illinois, 9:00AM - ESPN
Northwestern @ Michigan, 9:00AM - ESPN2
#3 Texas @ Kansas, 9:30AM - Comcast Sports Net Bay Area
Minnesota @ Wisconsin, 12:30PM - ESPN
#12 Missouri @ Iowa State, 3:40PM - Comcast Sports Net Bay Area
#6 USC @ Stanford, 4:00PM - Versus
Mississippi State @ #1 Alabama, 4:45PM - ESPN
Vanderbilt @ Kentucky, 5:00PM - ESPN2
UCLA @ Washington, 7:15PM - Comcast Sports Net Bay Area

Ohio State at Illinois has the potential to be a pretty good game, though I think, at the beginning of the season, many of us thought this game would have more Big 10 title implications. The Illini upset the Buckeyes last year at the 'Shoe, nearly costing Ohio State the title game and putting the Illini in the Rose Bowl.

USC at Stanford is another revenge game from a major upset last year. I really can't see the Trojans overlooking the Cardinal for the season straight season, but Jim Harbaugh has gotten Stanford well past "awful" and firmly into "mediocre" territory, and they're just one upset victory from being bowl-eligible.

Premium Cable:
Indiana @ #8 Penn State, 9:03AM - Big Ten
New Mexico @ Colorado State, 11:00AM - The Mtn.
#24 Wake Forest @ North Carolina State, 12:30PM - ESPNU
#17 BYU @ Air Force, 12:30PM - CBS College Sports
#23 Tulsa @ Houston, 5:00PM - CBS College Sports
#7 Utah @ San Diego State, 5:06PM - The Mtn.

Here you go, folks. 6 reasons why you shouldn't bother paying for premium cable. Go to a sports bar if you must, but the best I could say about these games is that I think Air Force has a pretty good shot at knocking off BYU at home.

Pay-Per-View or No TV:
#10 Georgia @ Auburn, 9:30AM
#16 North Carolina @ Maryland, 12:30PM
Arizona @ Oregon, 12:30PM
#9 Boise State @ Idaho, 2:00PM
Washington State @ Arizona State, 2:30PM
#13 Oklahoma State @ Colorado, 5:00PM
Troy @ #20 LSU, 5:00PM

Who would have picked, at the beginning of the season, that Georgia at Auburn would be on at 9:30 in the morning and no one would be watching? Not me. North Carolina @ Maryland is actually on ABC, but gets squeezed out of the schedule on the West Coast because Northwestern at Michigan supposedly has more appeal out here. I guess...

In the Pac-10, Arizona at Oregon is actually an important game with postseason implications. Both are going bowling, but both are trying avoid a 3rd loss and stay within striking range of 2nd or 3rd in the conference. Since Cal has beaten Oregon, and Oregon has been to both the Holiday and Sun bowls recently, I'll be rooting for the Ducks (I think being tied with them them instead of Arizona would give the Bears a better bowl berth). Meanwhile, WSU at ASU is about as interesting as the rest of the games on the uninteresting slate; ASU aims to keep its slim bowl hopes alive for another week, and WSU aims to not give up 60+ points in another Pac-10 game.

Poll

How do you think Cal will do against Oregon State?

Very well

18 votes

Moderately well

31 votes

Moderately poorly

18 votes

Very poorly

10 votes

77 votes | Poll has closed