While Cal wasn’t anything special last year, second year head coach Justin Wilcox certainly has this team trending in the right direction. The division that they are in makes things tough, but as the Golden Bears showed with their upset of Washington State last year, with great coaching, anything is possible.
Prestige Rating (If NCAA Football Still Existed): 3 Stars
There has been a spotty history for Cal throughout the years, but the recent success, or lack thereof, drags them down a bit.
Last Year’s Record: 5-7 (2-7)
Projected Returning Starters
Offense (10)
QB Ross Bowers, RB Patrick Laird, FB Malik McMorris, WR Vic Wharton, WR Kanawai Noa, C Addison Ooms, G Valentino Daltoso, G Kamryn Bennett, T Jake Curhan, T Patrick Mekari
Defense (8)
DE Luc Bequette, OLB Alex Funchess, OLB Cameron Goode, ILB Jordan Kunaszyk, CB Elijah Hicks, CB Camryn Bynum, S Jaylinn Hawkins, S Ashtyn Davis
Special Teams (2)
PR Vic Wharton, KR Ashtyn Davis
Key Loss: Raymond Davison
Five Year Recruiting Rank (Bill Connelly): 44
This is about what you would expect from a Cal team. They are in a state to get a ton of talent but not a super successful program so they have not recruited at the very top level for the past few years. With some success, expect Cal to continue trending up in this department.
Alcohol Prediction for Fans by Season’s End: A Nice Red Wine
Just up the road from Napa Valley, I’m sure that the Cal faithful in Berkeley will be perfectly content with the performance of this team at the end of the year and will sit around their fireplaces with glasses of wine.
The Tyroil Smoochie-Wallace All Name Team: Poutasi Poutasi
Outlook:
I believe that Cal is on the verge of breaking out. While the talent level isn’t astronomically high, Wilcox and the rest of the staff seem to get the most out of their players. I think this team certainly makes a bowl game this year and wins somewhere between 6-8 games, keeping the trend going in the right direction.