Cal and Justin Wilcox will hold the annual early signing day press conference Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. So, most of the action will be done by that time. Working on a comprehensive overview of where things stand for the Bears but expecting a strong finish right now. The latest on JKS is a final decision will likely come tomorrow.

Put your official score guesses in this thread. Currently at SMU -13.5 with an O/U 55.5

Happy Thanksgiving!

There are only a couple more opportunities for Cal to host recruits on game day visits this season, and that is especially important when it comes to members of the 2025 class. The Bears are still trying to put some finishing touches on the class and the focus remains mostly on the offensive and defensive fronts. The Bears have been offering and pursuing several offensive linemen in the class plus trying to continue to upgrade the defensive front as well.

That is certainly evident in the latest group of visitors the Bears are expected to have one campus tomorrow when they host Syracuse. Playoff time across high school football is making visits a little bit tricky around the country, but the Bears will still have a strong group represented this weekend including several prospects who have already made multiple trips to Berkeley this season.

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It's now all official! Cal will square off with UNLV in the Nohl Williams Bowl. No, it's actually the LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. It'll mark the second all-time meeting between the two teams after they first met in 2022. Nohl Williams actually played in that game and had 6 tackles and a pass breakup.

@Ryan Young , who ya got? If a hire is coming in the next 10 days, which candidates should we be keeping an eye out for?

Here's the full list of players expected to be honored on Senior Day tomorrow at California Memorial Stadium as the Bears host their final home game. Again, this doesn't mean that guys who are walking with remaining eligibility are officially done but is a good indication of players who could very well be moving on.

Mavin Anderson, Jake Arguello, Hunter Barth, Teddye Buchanan, Kadarius Calloway, Xavier Carlton, Ryan Coe, Ricky Correia, Collin Gamble, Trond Grizzell, Marcus Harris, Lu-Magia Hearns III, Dylan Jemtegaard, Liam Johnson, Jeffrey Johnson, Matthew Littlejohn, Will McDonald, David Reese, Rush Reimer, Chandler Rogers, Nate Rutchena, T.J. Session, Victor Stoffel, Josh Stovall, Derek Wilkins, Miles Williams, Myles Williams, Nohl Williams, Lachlan Wilson and Craig Woodson.

There was a lot to digest but here's the recap from today's game as Cal came back from a 14-point deficit to take down its rival.

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Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza has been named the Manning Award QB of the Week as voted on by fans after his Week 9 performance that led the Bears to their first win since Week 3 of the season. The redshirt sophomore from Miami passed for a career-high 364 yards to go along with a pair of touchdowns in the dominant win for the Bears over Oregon State on Saturday.

Mendoza now has over 2,000 yards on the season thanks to his performance and is one of just four quarterbacks in the ACC to have reached that number this year. That showing against the Beavers also earned him the ACC Quarterback of the Week award earlier this week.

The fan voting in favor of Mendoza helped him beat out several other candidates for the award. That list included: Joey Aguilar (App State), Max Brosmer (Minnesota), Taylen Green (Arkansas), Josh Hoover (TCU), Colton Joseph (Old Dominion), Cooper Legas (Tulsa), and Shedeur Sanders (Colorado).

Mendoza has continued to make progress this season and his last three performances have been efficient with a completion percentage of at least 70% in each of the last three games for the Bears. He's reached that number four times this season. The Miami native now sits with 11 total touchdowns this year (10 passing, 1 rushing) against just 3 interceptions.

The Cal starting quarterback was not named to the preseason or mid-season watch lists for the Manning Award, which is decided by a panel that includes Peyton and Eli Manning, but the list can go through changes with a finalist group expected to be announced in December.

The Bears have a bye this week but return to action next Friday against Wake Forest. Cal is still seeking out its first ACC victory but snapped a four-game losing streak with the win over OSU on Saturday.

I"m curious, does F. Mendoza have any pro-potential?

GAME INFO

Who: Cal (4-1; last game: 71-66 win over USC) vs. Sacramento State (1-3; last game: 79-69 loss to Cal State Northridge)
When: 1:00 p.m. PT
Where: Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, California
TV/streaming: ACC Network Extra | Roxy Bernstein (PxP) & Ben Braun (Analyst)
Radio: 810 AM | Justin Allegri (PxP)
All-time series: Cal leads 2-0
Odds: Cal (-15.5), O/U (139.5) – via BetMGM

It's game day once again for the Bears! I'll be at the game, but I'm going to be on the baseline shooting photos today, so probably won't be able to update throughout the game as much as I would like. So feel free to talk among yourselves and I'll update when I get a chance.

Taking in my first game at Haas Pavilion today!

Crazy if this ends up happening

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He gave a good pitch on Pat McAfee yesterday

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Last year I predicted 10 out of 12 games correctly. Prior season have been spot on as well. So let's go!

UC Davis - Win - Could be close for a half.
Auburn - Loss - Lots of buzz out that they have a stud frosh WR and the QB is way improved. Generally they have boys up front we can't handle too.
SDSU - Win - We beat SDSU at home traditionally and this isn't a great SDSU team.
Florida State - Loss - Line mismatch
Miami - Loss - Not huge on Miami per se. I could see a victory, but again I think on the lines they are just too superior.
Pitt - Loss - Pitt is good at home and should be improved this year. Coin flip. Wilcox's annual road turd.
North Carolina State - Loss - NC State always has big boys up front.
Oregon State - Win - OSU just has lost too much.
Wake Forest - Win - Like Pitt also concerned about this game, but Wake was terrible last year.
Syracuse - Win - Not a ton of talent at Syracuse.
Stanford - Win - I think the furd will be improved, but not improved enough to win.
Smu - Win - I know they got a lot of NIL, but i will believe a non power 5 team coming in and being good immediately when I see it. Also not an intimidating place to play.

7-5

6 or 7 wins seams like the most likely. Our defense will be improved over last year, but will the offense? I'm not so sure.

Looking at the CFB playoff brackets, one side of the bracket is substantially harder than the other.
Lucky for SMU they are on the weaker side. I think our new ACC brothers have a real shot at advancing
all the way to the championship game. Depends on Carson Beck's shoulder. If he's well Georgia would
be substantial favorites. I believe SMU can beat Penn State, Boise State, and have a fighting shot against
the winner of Notre Dame and Indiana. No game will be easy, just think they have a shot.
I'm rooting for our ACC besties.
(I do not care if Clemson wins or loses. They voted against us. )

Put your official score guesses in this thread. Currently at Cal -14 with an O/U 54.5

After seeing the Clemson AD's statement on the House settlement, it is certainly becoming a lot more real now.

One of the most impactful changes it will bring is the seeming elimination of NIL collectives as we have known them for a few years. Specifically, the House settlement only allows for "legit NIL" deals that must meet some sort of compliance guidelines. Clemson is creating a new position simply to review NIL contracts, to demonstrate the seriousness around this.

The implication is that in exchange for revenue sharing payments, athletes will no longer be getting paid money out of NIL collectives. All NIL deals must be verified by the school. I have no idea how this will be enforced, but the NCAA seems to want the playing field on revenue sharing to be even, and then after that athletes can make extra money from "legit NIL" deals.

So it seems this recruiting and transfer cycle will be the last time there will be "unlimited NIL" as a way to buy the best players in hotly contested bidding wars absent "legit NIL" deals that get athletes paid by brands and businesses as an endorsement or appearance property.

Can Phil Knight circumvent the rules and pay a company like Nike to pay athletes as endorsement properties? Or are his wings really being clipped by the House settlement implementation?