drizzlybear said:

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It's still to knock a basketball program because of the conference it's in. It's true that the average P5 team should be better than the average non-P5 team, but there are numerous exceptions, Gonzaga being the obvious example.

SDSU has been a better basketball program than most P12 programs and most P5 programs for a while now. They'll be going to the tournament again this year, whereas as many as nine P12 teams will not.

I think everyone agrees that Cal (rarely a basketball power) has recently fallen to a particularly and unacceptably bad place. While I get that the point of the original comment on this topic was about the value of the degrees (and there, of course, there's no comparison), for a basketball player looking to play in the ncaa tournament and possibly in the nba, it is completely understandable that a player would choose sdsu over Cal these days, regardless of the respective conferences. And Cal is certainly not alone in the P12 nor the P5 in that regard.

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I think the top of the bigger mid-major conferences are generally better than the middle of the P6 conferences

MWC top teams include SDSU for years now and they've been pretty successful beat Pac 12 five-twelve teams

But Dyson's clutch play won the last game vs SDSU I believe (I think we beat them last two times)

HoopDreams said:

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drizzlybear said:

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It's still to knock a basketball program because of the conference it's in. It's true that the average P5 team should be better than the average non-P5 team, but there are numerous exceptions, Gonzaga being the obvious example.

SDSU has been a better basketball program than most P12 programs and most P5 programs for a while now. They'll be going to the tournament again this year, whereas as many as nine P12 teams will not.

I think everyone agrees that Cal (rarely a basketball power) has recently fallen to a particularly and unacceptably bad place. While I get that the point of the original comment on this topic was about the value of the degrees (and there, of course, there's no comparison), for a basketball player looking to play in the ncaa tournament and possibly in the nba, it is completely understandable that a player would choose sdsu over Cal these days, regardless of the respective conferences. And Cal is certainly not alone in the P12 nor the P5 in that regard.

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I think the top of the bigger mid-major conferences are generally better than the middle of the P6 conferences

MWC top teams include SDSU for years now and they've been pretty successful beat Pac 12 five-twelve teams

But Dyson's clutch play won the last game vs SDSU I believe (I think we beat them last two times)

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Gonzaga,St.Mary's and USF would be a good matchup with the top 3 PAC-12 teams and are far better than Cal.

HearstMining said:

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Big C said:

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I still have a fondness for Bradley and wish him well. That said, only the pettier, less-pretty side of me still has an interest in him. To wit...

I wonder who the Cal player(s) were who disappointed Matty with their lack of all-out commitment to winning?

I wonder how a piss ant San Diego State diploma looks, next to a University of California, Berkeley one?

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To be brutally honest, as long as you're not in academia, a couple of years after graduation it looks exactly the same. I love Cal, but the Cal grads didn't walk on water when we went there and they don't now.

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So true. And as far as future prospects go, in general, what you studied is more important than where you studied. A select group of schools have cachet on their own, but Cal is not one of those schools.

PaulCali said:

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HearstMining said:

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Big C said:

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I still have a fondness for Bradley and wish him well. That said, only the pettier, less-pretty side of me still has an interest in him. To wit...

I wonder who the Cal player(s) were who disappointed Matty with their lack of all-out commitment to winning?

I wonder how a piss ant San Diego State diploma looks, next to a University of California, Berkeley one?

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To be brutally honest, as long as you're not in academia, a couple of years after graduation it looks exactly the same. I love Cal, but the Cal grads didn't walk on water when we went there and they don't now.

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So true. And as far as future prospects go, in general, what you studied is more important than where you studied. A select group of schools have cachet on their own, but Cal is not one of those schools.

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Well, if you go to many areas throughout the country or the even world, A Cal degree does indeed have cachet, except they know it as "Berkeley", not Cal.


To HearstMining: Sure, what you replied to me is largely true, depending on the realm, but since I am a Cal alum and this is a Cal fan site, I'm drumming up a little bravado for the ol' Alma Mater.

PaulCali said:

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HearstMining said:

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Big C said:

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I still have a fondness for Bradley and wish him well. That said, only the pettier, less-pretty side of me still has an interest in him. To wit...

I wonder who the Cal player(s) were who disappointed Matty with their lack of all-out commitment to winning?

I wonder how a piss ant San Diego State diploma looks, next to a University of California, Berkeley one?

---

To be brutally honest, as long as you're not in academia, a couple of years after graduation it looks exactly the same. I love Cal, but the Cal grads didn't walk on water when we went there and they don't now.

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So true. And as far as future prospects go, in general, what you studied is more important than where you studied. A select group of schools have cachet on their own, but Cal is not one of those schools.

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It really depends. The Cal degree is great for getting the next degree. Or landing the first job. It can put you on the path to success and give you a head start over the competition, all things being equal (and all things are not equal) and depending on how you define success. It is by no means determinative of anything, but it in most cases where your resume counts, it is an advantage over the same degree from somewhere like San Diego State.

I'd say the education you get from Cal is in the long run worth far more than the diploma you get from Cal.

Big C said:

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PaulCali said:

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HearstMining said:

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Big C said:

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I still have a fondness for Bradley and wish him well. That said, only the pettier, less-pretty side of me still has an interest in him. To wit...

I wonder who the Cal player(s) were who disappointed Matty with their lack of all-out commitment to winning?

I wonder how a piss ant San Diego State diploma looks, next to a University of California, Berkeley one?

---

To be brutally honest, as long as you're not in academia, a couple of years after graduation it looks exactly the same. I love Cal, but the Cal grads didn't walk on water when we went there and they don't now.

---

So true. And as far as future prospects go, in general, what you studied is more important than where you studied. A select group of schools have cachet on their own, but Cal is not one of those schools.

---

Well, if you go to many areas throughout the country or the even world, A Cal degree does indeed have cachet, except they know it as "Berkeley", not Cal.


To HearstMining: Sure, what you replied to me is largely true, depending on the realm, but since I am a Cal alum and this is a Cal fan site, I'm drumming up a little bravado for the ol' Alma Mater.

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Sure, and that's fair enough. I'm probably a little cranky over the general outlook of the basketball program. This season is ending the same way as the previous four; I'm recording games and then not even bothering to watch because the results are so lousy.

There are bits and pieces worth watching. Look at Roberson in the ASU game.

calumnus said:

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PaulCali said:

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HearstMining said:

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Big C said:

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I still have a fondness for Bradley and wish him well. That said, only the pettier, less-pretty side of me still has an interest in him. To wit...

I wonder who the Cal player(s) were who disappointed Matty with their lack of all-out commitment to winning?

I wonder how a piss ant San Diego State diploma looks, next to a University of California, Berkeley one?

---

To be brutally honest, as long as you're not in academia, a couple of years after graduation it looks exactly the same. I love Cal, but the Cal grads didn't walk on water when we went there and they don't now.

---

So true. And as far as future prospects go, in general, what you studied is more important than where you studied. A select group of schools have cachet on their own, but Cal is not one of those schools.

---

It really depends. The Cal degree is great for getting the next degree. Or landing the first job. It can put you on the path to success and give you a head start over the competition, all things being equal (and all things are not equal) and depending on how you define success. It is by no means determinative of anything, but it in most cases where your resume counts, it is an advantage over the same degree from somewhere like San Diego State.

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Also, I suspect that part of the prestige of a Cal degree is getting into Cal as a student, which is not true if you got in as an athlete.

What is interesting about the Bradley story is how vested he is in college basketball. Staying longer if anything decreases his NBA chances. And more likely, he could be earning a real wage next year playing overseas.

HearstMining said:

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Big C said:

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PaulCali said:

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HearstMining said:

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Big C said:

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I still have a fondness for Bradley and wish him well. That said, only the pettier, less-pretty side of me still has an interest in him. To wit...

I wonder who the Cal player(s) were who disappointed Matty with their lack of all-out commitment to winning?

I wonder how a piss ant San Diego State diploma looks, next to a University of California, Berkeley one?

---

To be brutally honest, as long as you're not in academia, a couple of years after graduation it looks exactly the same. I love Cal, but the Cal grads didn't walk on water when we went there and they don't now.

---

So true. And as far as future prospects go, in general, what you studied is more important than where you studied. A select group of schools have cachet on their own, but Cal is not one of those schools.

---

Well, if you go to many areas throughout the country or the even world, A Cal degree does indeed have cachet, except they know it as "Berkeley", not Cal.


To HearstMining: Sure, what you replied to me is largely true, depending on the realm, but since I am a Cal alum and this is a Cal fan site, I'm drumming up a little bravado for the ol' Alma Mater.

---

Sure, and that's fair enough. I'm probably a little cranky over the general outlook of the basketball program. This season is ending the same way as the previous four; I'm recording games and then not even bothering to watch because the results are so lousy.

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Its come to the point that we fast forward through the game to see if there are any interesting commercials during the timeout!!!

stu said:

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I'd say the education you get from Cal is in the long run worth far more than the diploma you get from Cal.

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I also personally value my Cal education more than my Cal degree. I remember when I used to post on Stanford boards and they were arguing about the value of being highly selective, to which I responded:"I wish everyone could have a Cal education" and "that is the core difference between Cal and Stanford."

calumnus said:

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stu said:

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I'd say the education you get from Cal is in the long run worth far more than the diploma you get from Cal.

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I also personally value my Cal education more than my Cal degree. I remember when I used to post on Stanford boards and they were arguing about the value of being highly selective, to which I responded:"I wish everyone could have a Cal education" and "that is the core difference between a Cal and Stanford."

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Interestingly, many people that attended Cal with me in 80's feel the opposite. I was surprised to learn (decades later), that so many Cal alums wish they had gone somewhere else for college.

And to clarify - it's something like 25% (not close to a majority). But I foolishly expected it to be zero or maybe one or two outliers. But these are rational, normal people who have reasoned explanations.

I can't tell you the number of times -- well into the hundreds -- that I've been in one situation or another over the past 40+ years and the subject has come up, "Where did you go to school?" And "Cal" (or "Berkeley" if I'm outside of the Bay Area) always gets me a little nod of approval or something. Even in multiple foreign countries. Now, what has this actually gotten me, besides a little ego boost? Usually nothing, but occasionally a little something. Hasn't hurt that Cal has gotten super-selective the past few decades: Gen Z and sometimes even Millennials think I might be smart (until they get to know me).

I probably would have learned more at a small school with a much lower student/teacher ratio like Amherst or Haverford or Swarthmore. But those were too expensive to be an option.

Besides I was in Berkeley in the late 1960s. Where else could anyone get that experience, which certainly affected me as much as anything in the classroom.

Big C said:

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I can't tell you the number of times -- well into the hundreds -- that I've been in one situation or another over the past 40+ years and the subject has come up, "Where did you go to school?" And "Cal" (or "Berkeley" if I'm outside of the Bay Area) always gets me a little nod of approval or something. Even in multiple foreign countries. Now, what has this actually gotten me, besides a little ego boost? Usually nothing, but occasionally a little something. Hasn't hurt that Cal has gotten super-selective the past few decades: Gen Z and sometimes even Millennials think I might be smart (until they get to know me).

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I actually stumbled into a pub in London wearing my Cal fleece and a pair of older Cal ex-pats bought me lunch!

a Cal degree absolutely carries a ton of weight in business, and everyone worldwide knows the college

We don't need to be comparing Berkeley to Oxford or Harvard or Stanford, although we can do that successfully.

This discussion is about Berkeley versus SDSU and there is absolutely a lot of value given to graduating from a top tier university like Berkeley (Top 25) versus SDSU (Top 150).

Some people who graduate from SDSU go on to great things, but it is not an academic powerhouse.

Jeremy Lin also wanted to play in the NBA, but I doubt he considered SDSU as his path to get there and yet he made it there all the same.

In the end we all make our choices. Some people turn down offers from more prestigious universities to follow girlfriends/boyfriends, to stay close to home, or for financial reasons.

Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't.

For people to say that Berkeley carries no cachet and no advantages over SDSU post-graduation is ridiculous, however.