Note to the Cal Bears concerning their Rose Bowl "snubbing":

[DallasCowpoke111]

S H U T U P !!!!

Happy Holiday: Tech silences No. 4 Cal, 45-31

After the controversy created when Texas edged out California for a Rose Bowl berth, the two teams now have a common opponent in Texas Tech. A look at how each performed against the Red Raiders:
Cal Category UT
Dec. 30 Date Oct. 23
San Diego Site Lubbock
L 45-31 Score W 51-21
24-14 Tech Halftime 24-14 UT
27 First Downs 32
467 Yards Gained 493
221 Rushing 351
246 Passing 142
597 Yards Allowed 386

 

[StanleySpadowski]

People are reading way too much into Cal's loss. It happens every year, a team gets snubbed, plays an uninspired game and loses to a nobody.

I fully expect Auburn to get their behinds handed to them also. That doesn't mean that they couldn't have beaten OU or USC.

 

[DallasCowpoke111]

People are reading way too much into Cal's loss. It happens every year, a team gets snubbed, plays an uninspired game and loses to a nobody.

I fully expect Auburn to get their behinds handed to them also. That doesn't mean that they couldn't have beaten OU or USC.

Actually, what I saw was a team that got punched right in their OVER ACHIEVING FACE, by a team w/ four losses, and who's defense is at BEST, mediocre!!

 

[StanleySpadowski]

Actually, what I saw was a team that got punched right in their OVER ACHIEVING FACE, by a team w/ four losses, and who's defense is at BEST, mediocre!!

The team you saw play TT wasn't the same team that we saw the rest of the season.

Again, there are a litany of examples where snubbed teams play less than inspired football. If Auburn gets shellacked, does that mean that the SEC is a cupcake league?

Also, using common opponents can come back to bite you. Shouldn't Utah be much higher than Texas based upon the game against their common opponent A&M?

 

[joseephuss]

The team you saw play TT wasn't the same team that we saw the rest of the season.

Again, there are a litany of examples where snubbed teams play less than inspired football. If Auburn gets shellacked, does that mean that the SEC is a cupcake league?

Also, using common opponents can come back to bite you. Shouldn't Utah be much higher than Texas based upon the game against their common opponent A&M?

At least Utah beat A&M. Of course the A&M team Utah beat was not the same one that Texas beat. A&M clearly learned something from that season opening loss and became a better team. I would have liked to see Utah and Texas face off or Cal and Texas or Cal and Utah. I didn't think Michigan deserved to be in the Rose Bowl over Cal, but that is how everything is structured.

I totally agree that Cal was uninspired. I thought that might happen. Of course Coach Tedford said that their snubbing wasn't the reason for the loss. I still was surprised at just how pooly they played. It does happen every year. I think Texas faced a similar situation last year.

 

[StanleySpadowski]

The problem is that Michigan is in the BCS, it's that the Big Least had an automatic bid.

Michigan's a decent team this year, and is my odds-on favorite for the National Title next season.

The problem is that Pitt....oops....an edict from their AD a few years ago forces me to refer to them as Pittsburgh....is wasting space in a big game.

Add that pre-season rankings screwed the most deserving team, Auburn, out of a shot at the title and you'll see why I hate D-I football without a playoff.

 

[joseephuss]

The problem is that Michigan is in the BCS, it's that the Big Least had an automatic bid.

Michigan's a decent team this year, and is my odds-on favorite for the National Title next season.

The problem is that Pitt....oops....an edict from their AD a few years ago forces me to refer to them as Pittsburgh....is wasting space in a big game.

Add that pre-season rankings screwed the most deserving team, Auburn, out of a shot at the title and you'll see why I hate D-I football without a playoff.

I love college football and especially the bowl season. I just hate that they don't have a playoff and an out right national champion.

 

[StanleySpadowski]

I love college football and especially the bowl season. I just hate that they don't have a playoff and an out right national champion.

Agree 100%. I do find it odd that I-AA, D-II and D-III football players are already done for the year yet know who the best team in the nation was.

 

[InmanRoshi]

I might be inclined to believe the "Cal wasn't inspired to play" argument had Cal come in flat. However, they were dominating Tech through the first quarter and a half of football. Next thing you know Tech starts clicking and scores 31 of the next 34 points.

I think the teams were pretty evenly matched. The 2nd best team in the Pac 10 is the equivalent of the 4th or 5th best team in the Big XII (UCLA did lose to Wyoming, afterall). Tech got on a roll, and when you let their offense get on a roll a shallacking typically ensues. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Tech had beat them in a head to head matchup in the regular season.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

The team you saw play TT wasn't the same team that we saw the rest of the season.

Again, there are a litany of examples where snubbed teams play less than inspired football. If Auburn gets shellacked, does that mean that the SEC is a cupcake league?

Also, using common opponents can come back to bite you. Shouldn't Utah be much higher than Texas based upon the game against their common opponent A&M?

You talk like Cal has been untouchable through out the year and that's simply not the case. Cal probably should have lost to Oregon and wasn't exactly impressive against Southern Miss. If they had been, they probably would have made the Rose Bowl.

You take a look at Cal and the PAC10 this year and this is what you see.

1. Cal's opponents W/L record is 63-62. Keep in mind, this includes USC who wsa 12-0. Without them on the schedule this record looks a great deal worse.

2. There out of conference schedule was not all that good. They played Air Force, New Mexico State and Southern Miss. This doesn't really help them.

3. PAC10 as a whole was something like 17-11 against out of conference foe's this year. Not very impressive for a power conference. In addition, they played 7, out of conference, ranked teams this year. Of those 7, they went 2-5. The combined records of out of conference foe's was 172W/153L and that's with 11-0 Utah, 12-0 Oklahoma and 11-0 Boise State included. Of the 30 out of conference teams the PAC10 played, less then half (14) had winning records. Lastly, of the 10 Teams in the PAC10, only 4 had winning records.

I just don't think this suggests a very strong conference. I do believe that USC is a good football team. ASU and Cal are probably a step below but I would not consider them ellite.

Here are the out of schedule opponents for all PAC10 Teams:

Arizona (3-8):

Northern Az (4-7) W 21-3
Utah (Ranked #4 11-0) L 23-6
Wisconsin (Ranked #16 9-2) L 9-7

Arizona St. (8-3)

UTEP (8-4) W 41-9
Northwestern (6-6) W 30-21
Iowa (Ranked #13 9-2) W 44-7

Cal (10-2)

Air Force (5-6) W 56-14
NMSU (5-6) W 41-14
Southern Miss (7-5) W 26-16

Oregon (5-6)

Indiana (3-8) L 30-24
Oklahoma (Ranked #2 12-0) L 48-10
Idaho (3-9) L 28-13

Oregon St. (7-5)

LSU (Ranked #11 9-2) L 22-21
Boise (Ranked #10 11-0) St. L 53-34
New Mexico (7-5) W 17-7

Stanford (4-7)

San Jose St. (2-9) W 43-3
BYU (5-6) W 37-10
Notre Dame (6-6) L 23-15

UCLA (6-6)

Oklahoma St. (7-5) L 31-20
Illinois (3-8) W 35-17
San Diego St. (4-7)W 33-10

USC (12-0)

VTech (Ranked #9 10-2) W 24-13
Colorado St.(4-7) W 49-0
BYU (5-6) W 42-10

Washington (1-10)

Fresno St. (9-3) L 35-16
Notre Dame (6-6) L 37-31
San Jose St. (4-7) W 21-6

Washington St. (5-6)

New Mexico (7-5) W 21-17
Colorado (8-5) L 20-12
Idaho (3-9) W 49-8

 

[jimmy40]

People are reading way too much into Cal's loss. It happens every year, a team gets snubbed, plays an uninspired game and loses to a nobody.

I fully expect Auburn to get their behinds handed to them also. That doesn't mean that they couldn't have beaten OU or USC.

I believe that teams do come in flat when they don't get to the bowl they wanted but that can't be an excuse for Cal because they weren't flat in the first half and what happened against S.Miss? They needed to be impressive in that game to get to the bowl they wanted and they looked overated. Tech proved it. They just weren't that good.
My biggest hangup with Bowl games is the freakin month layoff between games.