On the bright side, Sonny Dykes and company certainly will have plenty of chances to prove themselves next season.
The first USA Today Coaches’ Poll of 2013 was released yesterday, and Cal will have one of the toughest schedules in college football.
The Bears face No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Stanford, No. 21 UCLA, No. 22 Northwestern, No. 24 USC and No. 25 Oregon State. That’s seven games against top-25 opponents — among the most of any team in the country.
Four of those games will take place at home at Memorial Stadium, while the other three — Oregon, Stanford and UCLA — will be away games.
Cal’s schedule is so tough that it was recently ranked the No. 3 toughest schedule for 2013 by Phil Steele — behind only Florida and Oklahoma.
The Bears, of course, begin their season by hosting Northwestern. As a team on the edge of the rankings, Northwestern will provide the perfect litmus test for the Bears. Even keeping the game close would be a statement after Cal’s 3-9 season last year, in which the only ranked team that the Bears knocked off was then-No. 25 UCLA.
The tough schedule reflects both the strength of the Pac-12 and the challenges that Cal has made for itself in its nonconference scheduling. The Pac-12 is tied for the second-highest number of ranked teams with the Big 10 at five. The SEC, with six ranked teams, has the most.
Cal was not among the top 25, nor was it a team that ranked outside of the top 25 that also received some votes. However, Pac-12 foes Arizona, Washington and Arizona State did receive votes. Cal plays Arizona and Washington in 2013.
The Coaches’ Poll is based on the rankings of 62 FBS coaches, most of which are from the major football conferences.
Although the numbers look daunting, facing ranked opponents is the easiest way to catapult a team into the top rankings itself.
The full list of rankings is given below. The number of first-place votes for each team are placed in parentheses.
- Alabama (58)
- Ohio State (3)
- Oregon
- Stanford
- Georgia
- Texas A&M (1)
- South Carolina
- Clemson
- Louisville
- Florida
- Notre Dame
- Florida State
- LSU
- Oklahoma State
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- Michigan
- Nebraska
- Boise State
- TCU
- UCLA
- Northwestern
- Wisconsin
- USC
- Oregon State
Source: USA Today
Contact Riley McAtee at [email protected]