Preseason magazines are coming out. Athlon predicts 2-10 for Cal. Last in the P12 North and at 76 nationally. The only traditional BCS schools lower than Cal on the national poll are Kansas and Purdue. Interestingly, they do not have Sonny on their coaches on a hot seat list.

That's sorta an oxymoron...if we go 2-10 I would expect SD to get canned. Odd

Take Athlon for what it's worth .... very little

Darby;842327337 said:

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Preseason magazines are coming out. Athlon predicts 2-10 for Cal.

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Sounds about right.

CalZebra2012;842327354 said:

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Sounds about right.

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What do they have against 155# running backs?

:cheer

Darby;842327337 said:

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Preseason magazines are coming out. Athlon predicts 2-10 for Cal. Last in the P12 North and at 76 nationally. The only traditional BCS schools lower than Cal on the national poll are Kansas and Purdue. Interestingly, they do not have Sonny on their coaches on a hot seat list.

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That is a pretty safe, and logical assumption based on last year's performance. None of the pundits have seen us play with our starting defense - it has to be better than what we ended up playing last season. That translates to the offense not playing catch-up from the get go. Couple that with an improved front five on offense, a healthy Lasco at running back (a full-sized running back),and a lot of returning speed in the receiving corps, and anything is possible. We'll be able to sneak up on every team we play - at least in the early part of the season. We do play in probably the toughest conference in the country and playing 75% of your games in conference make for small margins of success for the teams not blessed with the top group of kids in a given year.

Darby;842327337 said:

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PreseaEson magazines are coming out. Athlon predicts 2-10 for Cal. Last in the P12 North and at 76 nationally. The only traditional BCS schools lower than Cal on the national poll are Kansas and Purdue. Interestingly, they do not have Sonny on their coaches on a hot seat list.

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good. Maybe we can surprise some teams.

Masau80;842327370 said:

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That is a pretty safe, and logical assumption based on last year's performance. None of the pundits have seen us play with our starting defense - it has to be better than what we ended up playing last season. That translates to the offense not playing catch-up from the get go. Couple that with an improved front five on offense, a healthy Lasco at running back (a full-sized running back),and a lot of returning speed in the receiving corps, and anything is possible. We'll be able to sneak up on every team we play - at least in the early part of the season. We do play in probably the toughest conference in the country and playing 75% of your games in conference make for small margins of success for the teams not blessed with the top group of kids in a given year.

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In Art Kaufman, I trust. Until we start giving up big play after big play. Then not.

Darby;842327337 said:

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Preseason magazines are coming out. Athlon predicts 2-10 for Cal. Last in the P12 North and at 76 nationally. The only traditional BCS schools lower than Cal on the national poll are Kansas and Purdue. Interestingly, they do not have Sonny on their coaches on a hot seat list.

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I think I am more dismayed by the fact that I don't feel any outrage or even slight at these types of predictions or feel any need to defend the team. While I remain hopeful and am willing to give Dykes and the new defensive staff the benefit of the doubt, last season was horrific enough that these types of predictions or assessments are probably deserved until Dykes and his staff can prove them wrong. Our team doesn't deserve any positive press until they can show results on the field.

No need for these magazines to stretch to compliment the Bears. The late great Alex Karras once told a story about his attempt to compliment a big-boned woman he danced with in college, and all he could come up with was "You don't sweat much for a fat girl."

The trouble of sneaking up on teams and knocking them off is you can only do it once. The next team's coach will surely warn his players, "...don't take them lightly look what they did to (?)."

Wouldn't it be nice if SC is the team that doesn't try too hard...

OK, I expected that. Who are the top picks in our conference for '14?

KoreAmBear;842327402 said:

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In Art Kaufman, I trust. Until we start giving up big play after big play. Then not.

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With a healthy defense, if that starts happening then we simply don't have the right kids here.

Deutsch;842327425 said:

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OK, I expected that. Who are the top picks in our conference for '14?

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the known suspects .... ducks / furd ... south :LA schools then maybe arz st


the pac12 is thick with talent up and down the board .. now as to the coaching ??? we will see aug30 !!!!

SonOfDykesCal;842327351 said:

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Take Athlon for what it's worth .... very little

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They just rated your bud way below McIntyre and at the bottom of the pac 12 coaching ranks.

I believe Athlon is based out of the deep south, I believe Tennessee. They don't exactly have a west coast bias.

SonOfCalVa;842327351 said:

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Take Athlon for what it's worth .... very little

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I guess you can say the same about the Sporting News and Lindy's. They both have us finishing last in the PAC-12 North SN has us descending from last years team and Lindy's has us ranked 82nd in the country. Of course none of those three rags know what we know here on BI.

bar20;842327499 said:

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I guess you can say the same about the Sporting News and Lindy's. They both have us finishing last in the PAC-12 North SN has us descending from last years team and Lindy's has us ranked 82nd in the country. Of course none of those three rags know what we know here on BI.

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well, can't blame them. it's the safe bet. it might pay to overhype certain teams, and appeal to certain fanbases (ahem, UW) by saying "____ is a darkhorse conference title contender this season", but Cal isn't one of those fanbases.

until we shake off this half decade downward trend, can't expect anything different from these lists. just ask Miller how dumb he looks when he's had positive things to say about Cal in the last few years. always proven wrong

bar20;842327499 said:

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IOf course none of those three rags know what we know here on BI.

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What do we know? We aren't gonna finish last?

NYCGOBEARS;842327503 said:

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What do we know? We aren't gonna finish last?

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The same thing we knew last year that they didn't know, the year before that and the year before that. We knew JS

bar20;842327511 said:

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The same thing we knew last year that they didn't know, the year before that and the year before that. We knew JS

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Bingo!

Who here believes we will not be last in the PAC12 North? Colorado or Utah might be the other most challenged teams in the league but they are not in the North.

59bear;842327516 said:

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Who here believes we will not be last in the PAC12 North? Colorado or Utah might be the other most challenged teams in the league but they are not in the North.

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And they were both miles better than us last year.

"Past Performance is No Guarantee of Future Results"
but these "analysts" have to write something...

Past performance may be no guarantee of future results but it is a better indicator than blind optimism. I see that Leniu is now headed to WSU.

SonOfDYKES;842327630 said:

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"Past Performance is No Guarantee of Future Results"
but these "analysts" have to write something...

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Then check out the Vegas spreads if you don't believe the "analysts".

The Duke!;842327628 said:

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And they were both miles better than us last year.

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Not miles better, but rather leagues HEALTHIER - a big difference. But that was true with every team we played.

even though I know they aren't usually very accurate. I wait and wait for Cal football and being a teacher who hides behind tenure and also has a business, have lots of time on my hands! The predictions are not any better than ours, so it's entertaining and better than baseball, soccer, golf, tennis, basketball and all that other sh*t you've taken up to counter our poor, lowly Bears..:cry:

who will we beat besides Sac State?

sixtiesbear1;842328073 said:

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who will we beat besides Sac State?

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Ourselves.

72CalBear;842328065 said:

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even though I know they aren't usually very accurate. I wait and wait for Cal football and being a teacher who hides behind tenure and also has a business, have lots of time on my hands! The predictions are not any better than ours, so it's entertaining and better than baseball, soccer, golf, tennis, basketball and all that other sh*t you've taken up to counter our poor, lowly Bears..:cry:

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LOL. At least you still have your sense of humor.

I'll be surprised if we're within 3 TDs of any team, including davis st.

It is so funny reading how some of you get yourself mentally prepared for the season and the W/ALS we may experience.

Davidson;842328149 said:

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I'll be surprised if we're within 3 TDs of any team, including davis st.

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Wow are you really that confident that Cal will win all it's games by more than 3 TD's. Oh wait.....

NYCGOBEARS;842328074 said:

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Ourselves.

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Oh Geezus. You made me laugh and then cry.
:bawl::bawl::bawl: