Need the practice time.

KoreAmBear;842768998 said:

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Scheduling strategy is key. We have to schedule teams with depth, strength and athleticism early. We can't do that with Furd. We need to do that with $C. Our win in 2003 was in October. We usually schedule them in mid November where they seem to have a second wind and we get thumped.

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OK, I had a convo the other day with a Cal friend who said likewise, and the following thoughts emerged into my (admittedly demented) head....
(1) Do we actually have that much say in when we schedule our P12 foes? I thought this was largely determined by the league and by TV networks?
(2) Is this what we're been reduced to? It would seem that hiring (and paying) coaches who will get us to the next level would help us a lot more than "scheduling strategy", but since we're Cal and we're permanently hobbled in this area, relative to just about all of our P12 foes, our only hope is to try to tweak the schedule to get us one extra win and help us squeak into the Poinsettia Bowl?

FremontBear;842768806 said:

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Teams with losing records should be barred from bowls. I'm for going with FCS schools with winning records before loser FBS schools.

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Totally agree. We should decline. We will lose money. A 5-7 team making a bowl game? Let's get our ribbon or participation trophy and enjoy the holidays.

going4roses;842769095 said:

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Need the practice time.

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I guess we would have really sucked this year had we not gotten those bowl game practices last year.

BearDevil;842768729 said:

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40 bowls is ridiculous. Understand conference championship games come into play, but teams that aren't at least 7-5 shouldn't be playing in bowls. Looks like at least 10 bowls too many. A team that wins a bowl game and still has a losing record is absurd.

Understand the historical significance of the NIT, but the 2 (or 3?) wannabe NIT tournaments are also BS.

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Get rid of the ticket guarantee. That'll winnow out many of the bowls that are just hanging around to suck up money from the participating schools. Hey, it'll probably result in more than half of these vampire bowl committees having to close up shop.

We beat Texas, Oregon, UCLA, and Utah. Not many of those 6-6 or worse teams could do that. We deserve to go bowling! Call me crazy, but I think we are better this year than last year. We could win that stupid Sun Belt conference for God's sake.

pappysghost;842769160 said:

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We beat Texas, Oregon, UCLA, and Utah. Not many of those 6-6 or worse teams could do that. We deserve to go bowling! Call me crazy, but I think we are better this year than last year. We could win that stupid Sun Belt conference for God's sake.

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You're crackers! 😝

A 5-7 team going to a Bowl game is the equivalent of every kid on the soccer team getting a "participation" trophy. As much as I'd like to see the team benefit from the additional practices, exposure, etc, bottom line is they didn't get it done.

We got it done 5 times playing a schedule many bowl teams couldn't get more than 2 wins playing. I think that makes us worthy of a bowl! Let's play a rematch against SDSU or venture out and play some other little mid major.

pappysghost;842769184 said:

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We got it done 5 times playing a schedule many bowl teams couldn't get more than 2 wins playing. I think that makes us worthy of a bowl! Let's play a rematch against SDSU or venture out and play some other little mid major.

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Shut the front door! I have it on good authority (err posters on this site) that all 5 teams we beat were embarrassed that they lost to us. You are being blasphemous!

I think Cal would be favored over these 27 "bowl" teams. I'm too lazy to check their relative Sagarin rankings, but I expect I'm not that far off. We are too physical for a lot of these teams. We are a lot better than our record. Our conference is brutal.

16 Troy 9 2
21 Tulsa 9 3
24 Old Dominion 9 3
26 Toledo 9 3
27 Air Force 9 3
31 Appalachian State 9 3
37 Memphis 8 4
40 Middle Tennessee 8 4
41 Louisiana Tech 8 4
43 Ohio 8 4
44 New Mexico 8 4
45 Wyoming 8 4
53 Idaho 7 4
54 Eastern Michigan 7 5
55 Colorado State 7 5
61 Army 6 5
62 Arkansas State 6 5
64 Wake Forest 6 6
65 Boston College 6 6
66 UCF 6 6
68 Maryland 6 6
70 UTSA 6 6
71 Southern Miss 6 6
72 Central Michigan 6 6
73 Miami (OH) 6 6
74 South Carolina 6 6
75 Vanderbilt 6 6

pappysghost;842769209 said:

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I think Cal would be favored over these 27 "bowl" teams. I'm too lazy to check their relative Sagarin rankings, but I expect I'm not that far off. We are too physical for a lot of these teams. We are a lot better than our record. Our conference is brutal.

16 Troy 9 2
21 Tulsa 9 3
24 Old Dominion 9 3
26 Toledo 9 3
27 Air Force 9 3
31 Appalachian State 9 3
37 Memphis 8 4
40 Middle Tennessee 8 4
41 Louisiana Tech 8 4
43 Ohio 8 4
44 New Mexico 8 4
45 Wyoming 8 4
53 Idaho 7 4
54 Eastern Michigan 7 5
55 Colorado State 7 5
61 Army 6 5
62 Arkansas State 6 5
64 Wake Forest 6 6
65 Boston College 6 6
66 UCF 6 6
68 Maryland 6 6
70 UTSA 6 6
71 Southern Miss 6 6
72 Central Michigan 6 6
73 Miami (OH) 6 6
74 South Carolina 6 6
75 Vanderbilt 6 6

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+1. Totally Agree

KoreAmBear;842768998 said:

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Scheduling strategy is key. We have to schedule teams with depth, strength and athleticism early. We can't do that with Furd. We need to do that with $C. Our win in 2003 was in October.

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Of course there is no way to have a scheduling strategy for conference games. We play them when the conference tells us to. There might be minor input from teams, but it's not going to affect the competitive balance in favor of some teams on a yearly basis. We have played SC early, late and everything in between since 2003. Same result. I recall a couple in September even... and early October at ATT park. 2004 was early October as well.

oski003;842769189 said:

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Shut the front door! I have it on good authority (err posters on this site) that all 5 teams we beat were embarrassed that they lost to us. You are being blasphemous!

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I sure hope you're being sarcastic re the posters & teams being embarrassed. Our guys fought hard for each of those wins and frankly it would be a slap to the players for BI posters to say otherwise.

I am. We didnt have a great season but some f'd up posters post as if we are one of the worst cfb teams in the nation.

pappysghost;842769209 said:

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I think Cal would be favored over these 27 "bowl" teams. I'm too lazy to check their relative Sagarin rankings, but I expect I'm not that far off. We are too physical for a lot of these teams. We are a lot better than our record. Our conference is brutal.

16 Troy 9 2
21 Tulsa 9 3
24 Old Dominion 9 3
26 Toledo 9 3
27 Air Force 9 3
31 Appalachian State 9 3
37 Memphis 8 4
40 Middle Tennessee 8 4
41 Louisiana Tech 8 4
43 Ohio 8 4
44 New Mexico 8 4
45 Wyoming 8 4
53 Idaho 7 4
54 Eastern Michigan 7 5
55 Colorado State 7 5
61 Army 6 5
62 Arkansas State 6 5
64 Wake Forest 6 6
65 Boston College 6 6
66 UCF 6 6
68 Maryland 6 6
70 UTSA 6 6
71 Southern Miss 6 6
72 Central Michigan 6 6
73 Miami (OH) 6 6
74 South Carolina 6 6
75 Vanderbilt 6 6

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Let's focus on #75 for a moment. Academically, Vandy is probably the cream of the SEC, so they have recruiting issues somewhat akin to ours. Here was their out of conference schedule: Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky (they had to go to OT in that one), and Tennessee State. Compare that to San Diego State, Hawai'i (on a neutral field in Australia), and Texas.

i'd love to see us in a bowl because a) as others have mentioend, we're a fun team to watch and b) i think i've seen hints the defense might be... closing in on average, lol. i did miss most the WSU game though, which might ruin my data set

Western Kentucky is pretty good. They are #37 on the Sagarin rankings and Hawaii is not too good, but our NC was better for sure.

Who would have thought that in a year where we're arguably better than Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame, that we aren't even going to a bowl!

SadbutTrue999;842769289 said:

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i'd love to see us in a bowl because a) as others have mentioend, we're a fun team to watch and b) i think i've seen hints the defense might be... closing in on average, lol. i did miss most the WSU game though, which might ruin my data set

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I definitely want to see our season extended. About our D, truthfully, until we get healthy, and until we commit to the run (on offense and on defense both), our defense will be close to the worst. It's not the players, it's the system (and also remaining healthy, but the system lends itself to that). UCLA was an aberration -- their offense is truly bad. I'm actually surprised they scored 14 on $C but I guess they were inspired a little.

The only reason I want a bowl game is to make Sonny Dykes and his resume look better to Baylor or Houston.

The Pac-12 has 7 Bowls, only 6 eligible teams. If Washington goes to the playoff, 2 Bowls won't have eligible Pac-12 teams. Does that help us get selected??

kingwin;842769339 said:

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The only reason I want a bowl game is to make Sonny Dykes and his resume look better to Baylor or Houston.

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You can Forget about it

I know that "we matter" since the fans pay a large part of the bills, but what about the players? What do they want? They want to go bowling I am fairly certain. It is fair to say that being 5-7 they have a large chip on the shoulder and would love to put some icing on the Ucla win. I really don't care about Sonny in this regard - the boys played hard ALL season in spite of the injuries and other shortcomings. There are seven of us here that would love to go!!

NVGolfingBear;842769012 said:

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That ain't going to happen!

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Go Navy! Beat Army!

72CalBear;842769380 said:

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I know that "we matter" since the fans pay a large part of the bills, but what about the players? What do they want? They want to go bowling I am fairly certain. It is fair to say that being 5-7 they have a large chip on the shoulder and would love to put some icing on the Ucla win. I really don't care about Sonny in this regard - the boys played hard ALL season in spite of the injuries and other shortcomings. There are seven of us here that would love to go!!

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Agreed. I'd love to travel to and attend another Cal bowl game as a fan. I had a lot of fun in Fort Worth last year for the Armed Forces Bowl.

This one is about the team and sending the seniors off with one more hurrah to thank them for 4-5 years of service and countless hours on the field, in the weight room, and in representing our university. They did all this even in the face of tough losses, and some very negative criticism over the years in the press and on these message boards online.

72CalBear;842769380 said:

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I know that "we matter" since the fans pay a large part of the bills, but what about the players? What do they want? They want to go bowling I am fairly certain. It is fair to say that being 5-7 they have a large chip on the shoulder and would love to put some icing on the Ucla win. I really don't care about Sonny in this regard - the boys played hard ALL season in spite of the injuries and other shortcomings. There are seven of us here that would love to go!!

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Agreed. I'd love to travel to and attend another Cal bowl game as a fan. I had a lot of fun in Fort Worth last year for the Armed Forces Bowl.

This one is about the team and sending the seniors off with one more hurrah to thank them for 4-5 years of service and countless hours on the field, in the weight room, and in representing our university. They did all this even in the face of tough losses, staggering injuries, numerous offseason transfers out by some former teammates and friends, and some very negative criticism over the years in the press and on these message boards online.

Back to back years of bowl games didn't happen that often at Cal in the pre-Tedford Era. If we get a chance to go to a bowl game, this program should JUMP at that opportunity.

+1. It's all about the players and coaches. Loyal fans will follow.

:gobears:

pappysghost;842769160 said:

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We beat Texas, Oregon, UCLA, and Utah. Not many of those 6-6 or worse teams could do that. We deserve to go bowling! Call me crazy, but I think we are better this year than last year. We could win that stupid Sun Belt conference for God's sake.

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I think our defense was better last year.

offense a wash. Goff and Webb are dangerous in different ways but pretty close to equally dangerous. Our WRS are an interesting comparison - i think they aren't as consistent, with Hansen being the one who shows up every play, but more talent in total. Last years a tiny bit less talent but the WRs were all great and interchangeable, which is nice in Sonny's offense. Khalfani and the OL are better this year for sure though. So yeah, I might agree the offense is better.

Defense is playing a little better recently but 2015 statistically is going to end up looking a ton better.

but yeah, would love to see us in a bowl.

KoreAmBear;842769303 said:

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I definitely want to see our season extended. About our D, truthfully, until we get healthy, and until we commit to the run (on offense and on defense both), our defense will be close to the worst. It's not the players, it's the system (and also remaining healthy, but the system lends itself to that). UCLA was an aberration -- their offense is truly bad. I'm actually surprised they scored 14 on $C but I guess they were inspired a little.

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Yeah, I knew UCLA's offense was terrible. They were even worse than I had thought they'd be. That 70 over/under was one of the easier bets of the year, :lol: The first half vs UW and 3 quarters vs Stanford were encouraging as well. Plays in backfield, playing solid coverage, consistent pressure, etc. WSU I got hammered and don't remember the 2nd half, I have a feeling that game didn't include as much encouragement.

Either way, a bowl would be good fun.

Calfans;842769353 said:

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The Pac-12 has 7 Bowls, only 6 eligible teams. If Washington goes to the playoff, 2 Bowls won't have eligible Pac-12 teams. Does that help us get selected??

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Good question. Add that wrinkle into the analysis, but my guess is that for 5-7 APR type entrants, we don't really have priority even for Pac-12 slots. We are at the bottom of the pile -- I hope someone picks us up though.

Calfans;842769353 said:

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The Pac-12 has 7 Bowls, only 6 eligible teams. If Washington goes to the playoff, 2 Bowls won't have eligible Pac-12 teams. Does that help us get selected??

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I don't think that it does help us.

Here's why: 5-7 teams gain eligibility in order of the highest cumulative APR score, without regard to conference. In other words, just because the Pac-12 is unable to fulfill its bowl bid obligations with teams that have a 6-6 record or better does not help Cal gain an otherwise vacant Pac-12 bowl berth.

It does not help us become eligible. What it does do is - if we are eligible, we get to go to a better bowl, if you think the Pac 12 bowls are better than some of the other bowls.

So, for example, we would not be relegated to the bahamas bowl.

If the Bahamas bowl is in the Bahamas, then count me in. If it is in Bahamas, North Dakota then I am less enthused.

FiatSlug;842769636 said:

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I don't think that it does help us.

Here's why: 5-7 teams gain eligibility in order of the highest cumulative APR score, without regard to conference. In other words, just because the Pac-12 is unable to fulfill its bowl bid obligations with teams that have a 6-6 record or better does not help Cal gain an otherwise vacant Pac-12 bowl berth.

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It might affect the invitations available to other teams though that might not necessarily accept an invite if its too expensive.

packawana;842769670 said:

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It might affect the invitations available to other teams though that might not necessarily accept an invite if its too expensive.

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That's a major factor for G5 schools - the cost. The Motel 6 Cactus Bowl in Arizona would be the Pac 12 Bowl without a rep. It pays out ~1.2 million per school... but of course it really doesn't. Teams have to stay at the 'official' hotel at a jacked up rate. And rent far more rooms than needed for just the team. And sell enough tickets to pay for their allotment. These target numbers are all set up with the Pac 12, who will help cover short falls.... for it's own members.

What I think would be most likely though is for the Cactus Bowl to find a decent replacement (aka not 5-7). It's payout is still enough to probably ensure a team will not lose money, even with poor sales. Then these bowl that pay in the $400-500k range will be looking for any takers. So if the Pac12 were willing to 'cost share', a team like Cal (or ASU) could make it work, when a Sun Belt or MAC team would not. I mean we are talking 5-7 teams here. Not many fans from either P5 or G5 will travel and buy rooms.

I really do think schools will pass this year on account of costs. The question is if a 5-7 team passes on one bowl offer, can that bowl go lower on the APR totem pole immediately, or do they have to keep trying others?