Cal Bears Football

Cal fans, do you remember 2004? The year of Aaron Rodgers and the year of pain?

The Bears were robbed of a Rose Bowl bid by Mack Brown's lobbying Longhorns. Because of that, Cal was stuck in the Holiday Bowl.

Cal hasn't had a chance to play Texas since, and while a home-and-home is scheduled in the near future, a battle between Brown and Jeff Tedford would be a dream come true for Cal.

As long as Kansas State doesn't crack the BCS, the Longhorns seem destined for the Holiday Bowl, and as long as Stanford isn't somehow robbed of a BCS bid, Cal is practically a lock for San Diego.

This is the perfect year for Cal, as both teams are 7-5 and the Texas quarterbacks (Case McCoy and David Ash) are struggling. Cal has a balanced attack and one of the nation's best wideouts in Keenan Allen.

If you match these teams up most years, Cal won't get revenge. This year, however, you have a Cal team that finished strong and is hungry to beat Texas and finally get that revenge on Mack Brown and Co.

With Washington looking to get picked ahead of Cal, and Cal ahead of Utah, the Bears are a lock for this game, while Kansas State, Oklahoma and Baylor are all getting picked ahead of Texas, as Texas is the fourth pick for the conference.

The year of pain has been replayed through Cal fans' minds millions and millions of times. Now, it's been 53 years since Cal played in the Granddaddy of Them All, thanks to the Horns. 

The Holiday Bowl usually pits the third- or fourth-best team from the conference against the Big 12, and while it is no Rose Bowl, revenge is revenge.

Especially against Texas.

If you were a Cal fan watching the final game on Black Friday, chances are you were worried sick about your Golden Bears.

In a hard-fought, gut-wrenching game, California defeated Arizona State, overcoming a sloppy effort on defense to put up 47 points in their 47-38 win.

Now, California's record is 7-5 and their bowl stock is soaring. The defense struggled, but thanks to a balanced attack and great efforts from Isi Sofele and C.J. Anderson, Cal was able to fight past the Sun Devils.

This win means a lot to Cal and their bowl stock. If you thought Cal was going to lose, you probably predicted the Bears to find themselves in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

If you had the Bears winning, then your pick was likely the Sun Bowl. Thanks to Utah's loss to Colorado, Cal gets the advantage over Arizona State and Utah. This should place Cal in the Sun Bowl, which is eager to host the Bears, who have never played in the El Paso game.

Watching Cal's offense sure won't change any of that for the Sun Bowl. Zach Maynard ran for a touchdown and threw for one more, a 74-yard pass to C.J. Anderson.

Anderson scored three times and he and Isi Sofele showed their ability to break tackles and find space to the outside.

As bad as the defense was, they forced four turnovers, one being a huge fumble by Cameron Marshall that swung the game in Cal's favor. The call was reversed to a fumble with Arizona State driving for the lead and Cal went up 47-38 with a field goal.

If UCLA and Washington both lose today and UCLA loses the conference championship, Cal could even find the Alamo Bowl. In Cal's last four games they have gone 3-1, their only loss a nail-biter at sixth-ranked Stanford.

This year Cal beat Fresno State, Colorado, Presbyterian, Utah, Oregon State, Washington State, and Arizona State. While that isn't the most impressive resume, the Golden Bears still overshadow most teams in the conference, as they went 2-4 with a tough road schedule and won six games by nine or more points.

For Pac-12 bowl representatives, if you take that into consideration and compare it with Washington, UCLA, and Utah, the Bears are looking good.

By finishing up the season on a good note and adding to their resume, the Golden Bears can watch happily as Arizona State tries to win the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, while the Bears receive credit and make a top-tier Pac-12 bowl game.

All thanks to one big game down in the desert.