No. 13 CALIFORNIA BEARS

Bears hope to finally make Pac-10 statement

Is it time to finally give up on Cal?

That question might sound harsh, but after so many predictions of Jeff Tedford's team finally being able to take the Pac-10, the continuing failure has become deafening. And while the Bears run of six-straight bowl games (longest streak in team history) has coincided with the emergence of a dominant USC team, there's still a point of when Cal will step up and force the nation to stop thinking of the conference as the Pac-1.

This season's schedule is noticeably top-heavy, and the Bears might easily be on the national consciousness or an after thought by the beginning of October. In the opening game, Cal will look to avenge last season's loss at Maryland, where the Bears were coming in 2-0 and just seemed to have forgotten what time kick-off; even a late rally couldn't prevent the upset loss. After a trip to Minnesota, the Bears will have back-to-back season defining games - at Oregon and back home against USC. A win over the Ducks would be huge, but a victory over the Trojans would jump the Bears to the front of the conference race.

And it's the game against USC that has come to highlight the schedule of all Pac-10 teams. Despite some hard fought games over the past decade, Cal has only been able to knock off the Trojans once - during USC's 2003 AP National Championship season. But this might be their best opportunity for a while - Cal's getting the Trojans at home, early in the season, with USC breaking in a new quarterback and perhaps before the Trojans have time to gel. The Bears will be coming off a hard-fought game in Eugene, so they'll have already been tested.

After USC, the Bears have a week off to prepare for their trip to UCLA, close the month at Arizona State and host Oregon State and Arizona in back-to-back weeks in November - all of which would be a fortunate schedule - if the team gets on a roll early. However, a slow start would likely drop California back in the at least from a national perspective.

Final 2008 Ranking: Not Ranked

CFN 2009 Preview | ESPN Cal Page | CBS Cal Page

Part of a two-week long look into the 2009 Preseason Southern Fans' College Football Poll. New posts released each day, culminating with the No. 1 team on September 2.