Cal on the list. . .
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...5199485/friday-five-conference-title-sleepers
4. Cal
Somewhat surprised to see Cal here, right? Like, Texas made some sense, but you weren't thinking about Cal. Well, I am. Here's what we know about the Pac-12 heading into 2015. The South Division is still going to be pretty good, and is likely the second-best division in college football behind the SEC West. We also know that Stanford had problems last season, Washington lost roughly 35 players to the NFL (off a team that still only managed to win eight games), and Oregon is going through some major changes of its own. Then there's Cal, which was only 5-7 last year, but has one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Jared Goff.
With Sonny Dykes entering his third year, this is a team that is going to score a lot of points, and that's important in the Pac-12. The key, of course, will be whether or not a defense that allowed damn near 40 points per game last season can improve. I'd like to think it can't get worse, and I'm sure Dykes does as well. Another factor working against the Bears is that they have to go on the road to play Oregon, Washington and Stanford, who would all be considered the favorites in the division. So Cal pushing Oregon for the division title isn't the likeliest of scenarios, but how many of us had TCU going HAM on the Big 12 last year? Exactly.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...5199485/friday-five-conference-title-sleepers
4. Cal
Somewhat surprised to see Cal here, right? Like, Texas made some sense, but you weren't thinking about Cal. Well, I am. Here's what we know about the Pac-12 heading into 2015. The South Division is still going to be pretty good, and is likely the second-best division in college football behind the SEC West. We also know that Stanford had problems last season, Washington lost roughly 35 players to the NFL (off a team that still only managed to win eight games), and Oregon is going through some major changes of its own. Then there's Cal, which was only 5-7 last year, but has one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Jared Goff.
With Sonny Dykes entering his third year, this is a team that is going to score a lot of points, and that's important in the Pac-12. The key, of course, will be whether or not a defense that allowed damn near 40 points per game last season can improve. I'd like to think it can't get worse, and I'm sure Dykes does as well. Another factor working against the Bears is that they have to go on the road to play Oregon, Washington and Stanford, who would all be considered the favorites in the division. So Cal pushing Oregon for the division title isn't the likeliest of scenarios, but how many of us had TCU going HAM on the Big 12 last year? Exactly.
