Second in the Pac-12. God it is hard to swallow 1-11 but that is really good news and deserves big hat tip to the coaches and, of course, the student athletes. Go Bears!

Certainly less to be embarrassed about now.

socaliganbear;842306958 said:

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Certainly less to he embarrassed about now.

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1-11 feels better!!!



Seriously, that is awesome news.

socaltownie;842306954 said:

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Second in the Pac-12. God it is hard to swallow 1-11 but that is really good news and deserves big hat tip to the coaches and, of course, the student athletes. Go Bears!

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woohoo!

looks like forcing kids to go to class is doing some good. that and...you know...encouraging certain kids to go pro, or leave. gotta do what you gotta do!

socaltownie;842306954 said:

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Second in the Pac-12. God it is hard to swallow 1-11 but that is really good news and deserves big hat tip to the coaches and, of course, the student athletes. Go Bears!

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Pretty good for a Clowns Crew huh?

Awesome news, fixed academics, now on to a successful season.

well it's a shade better than being 3-9 and being dead last in APR

Great news. First leg up of many to come. Go Bears, Go Sonny, well done.

beeasyed;842306974 said:

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woohoo!

looks like forcing kids to go to class is doing some good. that and...you know...encouraging certain kids to go pro, or leave. gotta do what you gotta do!

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Have no problems with encouraging kids to leave, if they don't want to be here.

This was a big step to rebuild the program, fix the academics.

Looks like we are on our way there, now lets work on the product on the field with kids who study and want to be here.

cal bear football = trending up

link?

OneTopOneChickenApple;842306995 said:

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link?

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tweet from a competing site.

Great news and congrats to coaches and players (and academic advisers) if true. I assume 969 is the 1 year score? Not sure it was mathematically possible for our multi-year average to jump to 969.

MiZery;842306976 said:

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Pretty good for a Clowns Crew huh?

Awesome news, fixed academics, now on to a successful season.

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I agree, of course, that it's awsome news, but I'm not sure I would use the term "fixed" though. It's something that they need to stay on top of... forever.

Go Bears!

Big C_Cal;842307028 said:

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I agree, of course, that it's awsome news, but I'm not sure I would use the term "fixed" though. It's something that they need to stay on top of... forever.

Go Bears!

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true. it's most likely the single-season number, as opposed to the rolling average APR. will need to sustain this, but on the right path..

that is actually really fantastic. changing our classroom mindset / work ethic can hopefully translate into changing our mindset / work ethic on the field

Congrats to Sonny and the team - this shows a true dedication and understanding of the #1 priority he faced. I feel a little less dirty today - that's a good thing.

beeasyed;842306974 said:

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woohoo!

looks like forcing kids to go to class is doing some good. that and...you know...encouraging certain kids to go pro, or leave. gotta do what you gotta do!

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Imagine how 11-1 season would have felt (gawd, gross exaggeration, sorry) but Cal had been penalized severely for failing academics standards.
Takes a lot of the sting out of last season.
Instead of academic non-performers cluttering the roster, we're now into year 2 of recruiting good to great students.
Onward now to 11-1 (:p)

damn right

SonOfCalVa;842307057 said:

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Imagine how 11-1 season would have felt (gawd, gross exaggeration, sorry) but Cal had been penalized severely for failing academics standards.
Takes a lot of the sting out of last season.
Instead of academic non-performers cluttering the roster, we're now into year 2 of recruiting good to great students.
Onward now to 11-1 (:p)

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ill take 11-1 those are rose bowling numbers ... or a good ass bowl at min
that would be progress.. leaps and bounds

Hopefully this becomes the norm, and not something we "celebrate" in the future. We are after all the number 1 public university in the world.

tydog;842307074 said:

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Hopefully this becomes the norm, and not something we "celebrate" in the future. We are after all the number 1 public university in the world.

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Amen

tydog;842307074 said:

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Hopefully this becomes the norm, and not something we "celebrate" in the future. We are after all the number 1 public university in the world.

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Because, we are the #1 university in the world (omission intentional).

I assume the first place in the APR is occupied by a junior college where they hand out A's like candy? That will never be us and so being top of this table will never be easy and hence, IMHO, will always be cause for praise and celebration.

:cheer:cheer:cheer:cheer:cheer:cheer:cheer :gobears: :woohoo

Fantastic!

SonOfCalVa;842307057 said:

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Imagine how 11-1 season would have felt (gawd, gross exaggeration, sorry) but Cal had been penalized severely for failing academics standards.
Takes a lot of the sting out of last season.
Instead of academic non-performers cluttering the roster, we're now into year 2 of recruiting good to great students.
Onward now to 11-1 (:p)

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I guess it is a lot like turning around a troubled company.
You must first get rid of the "dead wood" employees who are not performing and those who might still be performing but don't buy into the system and would create a cancer within the organization if they stayed around. (I won't mention any names and if the shoe fits .....)

tydog;842307074 said:

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Hopefully this becomes the norm, and not something we "celebrate" in the future. We are after all the number 1 public university in the world.

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Really the Number 1 public university in the Solar System (if you read BI for Cal BB and the references there to Martian and Venusian recruits).

OneKeg;842307022 said:

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Great news and congrats to coaches and players (and academic advisers) if true. I assume 969 is the 1 year score? Not sure it was mathematically possible for our multi-year average to jump to 969.

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Yes only a one year score... our 4 year score won't go up much as we are taking out a high score like 960-964 or something and replacing it with this one. The good news if we would have scored less than 964 we would have been punished and next year if we can put up a big score it will make a huge difference with our 4 year score.

Performance off the field has apparently been fixed. Hope he can now fix the players performance on the field!

For perspective, here's a 2012 list of APRs (couldn't Google find 2013).

969 puts us in the "realm" of West Point and ND.

Seeing Miami(?!), Alabama, Oklahoma, OSU high in this list seems suspect.

[U]2012 APR (4 yr. avg):[/U]
1 Northwestern University: 995
2 Boise State University 989
2 Duke University 989
4 Ohio State University 988
5 University of Northern Illinois 987
6 Rice University 986
7 Clemson University 983
7 Middle Tennessee State University 983
9 Rutgers University 982
10 Air Force Academy 980
10 University of Miami 980
12 Vanderbilt University 978
13 Boston College 977
13 Stanford University 977
15 University of Wisconsin 975
16 Georgia Tech University 974
16 University of Central Florida 974
18 United States Naval Academy 973
18 TCU 973
18 Wake Forest University 973
21 University of Florida 972
21 University of Missouri 972
23 University of Kansas 971
23 Penn State University 971
25 University of Oklahoma 970
25 University of Alabama 970
25 United States Military Academy (Army) 970
25 University of Georgia 970
25 University of Notre Dame 970
30 Virginia Tech University 968
31 Miami University 967
31 Tulane University 967
33 University of Nebraska 966
33 University of South Carolina 966
33 University of Utah 966
36 Indiana University 964
36 Louisiana State University 964
38 University of Connecticut 963
38 University of South Florida 963
40 University of Toledo 960
41 Mississippi State University 959
41 San Jose State University 959
41 Temple University 959
41 Utah State University 959
45 Baylor University 956
45 UCLA 956
47 Oregon State University 955
47 University of Pittsburgh 955
49 Colorado State University 954
49 Western Michigan University 954
51 University of Illinois 953
51 University of Alabama-Birmginham 953
51 West Virginia University 953
54 East Carolina University 952
55 University of Arizona 951
55 Bowling Green State University 951
55 University of Hawaii 951
55 University of Kentucky 951
55 Marshall University 951
55 University of Western Kentucky 951
61 Purdue University 950
61 Syracuse University 950
63 University of Iowa 949
63 University of Nevada 949
63 Ohio University 949
63 San Diego State University 949
63 University of Washington 949
68 Fresno State University 948
68 Arkansas State University 948
68 University of Louisiana Lafayette 948
68 University of Oregon 948
72 UNLV 947
72 USC 947
74 Ball State University 946
74 Louisiana Tech University 946
74 Texas A&M University 946
74 Texas Tech University 946
78 University of Virginia 944
79 Kansas State University 943
79 University of Michigan 943
79 University of North Carolina 943
79 Auburn University 943
79 Michigan State University 943
79 University of New Mexico 943
85 Central Michigan University 941
85 SMU 941
87 University of Cincinnati 939
88 University of Colorado 938
88 Iowa State University 938
88 University of North Texas 938
91 Arizona State University 937
91 Florida State University 937
91 University of Texas 937
94 University of Arkansas 936
94 University of California 936
94 University of Wyoming 936
97 Eastern Michigan University 935
97 Kent State University 935
99 Florida International University 934
99 University of Idaho 934
101 University of Akron 933
101 Ole Miss 933
101 Washington State University 933
104 Brigham Young University 932
104 University of Memphis 932
104 University of Minnesota 932
107 University of Maryland 931
107 North Carolina State University 931
107 University of Tennessee 931
110 Florida Atlantic University 930
110 Southern Miss 930
110 Troy University 930
113 Oklahoma State University 928
114 University of Houston 926
115 University of Tulsa 925
116 University of Buffalo 923
117 New Mexico State University 918
118 University of Louisiana-Monroe 917
119 University of Louisville 911
119 UTEP 911

People should realize that a high APR indicates either:

1. A good support system and emphasis on academics for athletes
2. A joke of system that values academics for athletes that suggest you can coast easy

Cal having a poor APR probably meant it didn't have the best recruiting policies as far as getting students that can hang with the curriculum, but likewise it means that Cal wasn't willing to undercut it's standards for the sake of athletics.

Haashole;842307052 said:

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that is actually really fantastic. changing our classroom mindset / work ethic can hopefully translate into changing our mindset / work ethic on the field

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i agree. it's more important than most realize. Cal, for a while under JT, turned into a place that advertised: "we don't win much, but you can still get into the NFL--and we actually don't require much studying."

that led to a whole bunch of problems. players playing for themselves, not taking practice seriously, skipping classes and sometimes workouts, etc. [all gleaned from a buddy working in the program, not my own conjecture.]

it has to be a complete change in mindset. too bad Sonny didn't have the full picture coming in--i'm sure the preseason interviews would've been much different.

That's very good news. I'm glad to finally see academic results instead of excuses.

Great news! I look forward to the extensive coverage in the Chronicle of how we have made such significant improvements (as a follow up to their multiple stories about our embarassingly low scores in prior years).

:sarc:

I need to know more before I get excited. How can Sonny possibly know our APR this year when the students haven't even taken their finals yet?

I'm optimistic. But the score itself is highly questionable unless and until we find out what it is referring to. It certainly can't be 13-14 grades, because those aren't finished yet.

The Duke!;842307147 said:

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I need to know more before I get excited. How can Sonny possibly know our APR this year when the students haven't even taken their finals yet?

I'm optimistic. But the score itself is highly questionable unless and until we find out what it is referring to. It certainly can't be 13-14 grades, because those aren't finished yet.

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If I recall, there is an APR update per the NCAA after every semester is concluded. By end of fall 2013 our APR had increased to 969. End of fall the previous year we were at -214986 or something similarly embarrassing. This has nothing to do with the current semester.

Since the NCAA hasn't released data from the 2012-13 years yest (that release comes out in June every year and this year it affects postseason eligibility for the 2014-15 bowl season), I think it's safe to assume that the 969 is for that 2012-13 academic year. Obviously, the data for the 2013-14 academic year is not complete. If the release in June doesn't match what Sonny is saying, then it's fair to question what he is talking about. But the athletic department has known a ballpark for 2012-13 since last September (after summer school grades come in), but they need to get the NCAA to go over it and validate it as there might be exceptions due to transfers, leaving schools or taking classes over.