SI.com went college football crazy a few weeks ago. So, how does ESPN.com do it? Well, when you’re the World Wide Leader in Sports, you outsource, of course.

ESPN uses Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook’s analysis and breaks down all 119 Division 1-A football teams.

While Blue Ribbon gives Cal passing marks on its report, we’d like to remind you to take it with a grain of salt. Yes, hype is everything, but get too hyped too early and lose badly in the first game of the year (like last year). Then you risk of falling so hard that you won’t be able to get back up.

But without further ado:

Blue Ribbon’s report card consists of four categories—offense, special teams, defense and intangibles. The Bears received an ‘A’ for offense, an ‘A+’ for special teams (thanks to the Golden Blur, DeSean Jackson), an ‘A-’ for intangible (no doubt thanks to God himself, Jeff Tedford) and a ‘B’ for defense.

Couple this with the fact that Athlon Sports ranked Cal just outside the top 10 in its preseason rankings, the hype machine must be working real hard for the Bears.

Blue Ribbon also thinks that Cal can win 11 games, play in a BCS bowl but not beat USC. They say that Bears fans (and maybe the entire college football community) will look back at last season’s 10-3 record, the loss to Arizona, in another-trip-to-the-Holiday-Bowl season, as the one that got away.

bq. When Tedford’s run at Cal ends, whether it’s in 2008 or 2028, there’s a real chance that last season will be looked upon — not only him but Cal fans — as their Moby Dick, the one that got away.

Also interesting is that they think that Tedford is one of the top two offensive geniuses in all of college football. They can’t make up their mind about whether or not Florida coach Urban Meyer is better, but at least Tedford is No. 2.

But Blue Ribbon thinks Cal is second-best in the Pac-10 only to the Trojans because of defense.

We’ll give you another reason—history and coaching. We’re going to say it, 2003 was a fluke. Sure the win over USC put the Bears on the map. But since then, they’ve faltered.

When so much is on the line, Cal has come up short. That’s what happened in Tucson last year. That’s what happened at the Coliseum last year and in 2004.

And what does this come down to? Coaching. Tedford plays not to lose. It’s cliché, but you’ve got to play to win, like our old buddy Herman Edwards said.

Daymeion Hughes put it best last year after the Bears’ loss to the Trojans.

bq. “Their coaches are some of the gutsiest ever,” said Cal cornerback Daymeion Hughes. “They think no matter what the situation is, they’re going to win.”

That’s something Cal doesn’t have yet.

Image Source: Ben Gallup, Daily Cal
Earlier: SI.com Goes College Football Preview Crazy, So We Do Too Team preview: California [ESPN.com]

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Tags:Blue Ribbon Report, college football, ESPN, SI.com
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About a month ago, SI.com’s Stewart Mandel offered us his infinite wisdom and gave us his post-spring, yet pre-summer college football rankings.

In those rankings, Cal was No. 20. Pretty good. But we like Athlon Sports’ ranking for the Bears a little bit better.

Athlon Sports, this year, is ranking their top 25 college football teams countdown style, finishing with the No. 1 team on June 1. We think that No. 1 team is going to be USC. But that’s just speculation.

Cal is just outside of the top 10, coming in at No. 11 for Athlon Sports.

And just like everyone else in America, Athlon Sports loves The Golden Blur we like to call DeSean Jackson.

If the Heisman Trophy were to go to the player with the ability to change the complexion of a game on one play better than anyone else in America, DeSean Jackson would be front and center at this year’s ceremony, and probably would have been last year. Jackson has been Cal’s leading receiver in both of his first two seasons, averaging 17.1 yards on 97 catches with 16 touchdowns. He also ran back four punts for touchdowns last year, giving him five for his career, and was the recipient of the Randy Moss Award as the top return man in the nation. He takes just about one out of every five punts he touches the distance.

There are great expectations looming for this Bears squad. With an almost top 10 ranking in one poll, a “primetime game” to kickoff the season and “College GameDay” coming to Berkeley, the hype surrounding this team is reaching levels never seen before since the Pappy Waldorf years.

Other Pac-10 teams of note already mentioned in Athlon Sports’ top 25 include No. 15 UCLA and No. 22 Oregon State. Our question, why does everyone love the Beavs? When was the last time they got this much love?

Electric offense sparks Bears in ‘07 [Athlon]

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Tags:Athlon Sports, Cal football, SI.com, Stewart Mandel
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