Oakland Tribune: Cal's bowl options still up in air

By Dave Newhouse, STAFF WRITER 

Which bowl committee will open its arms to Cal? That was the question on many people's minds Saturday night after improbable hero Steve Levy and a bullying defense had a season-high nine sacks in the Bears' 27-3 thrashing of Stanford. With Cal (7-4, 4-4 Pac-10) now in position to be considered by several bowls, which one will choose the Golden Bears?  It all comes down to two things: Cal's Pac-10 position and bowl committees' preferences.  Right now, Cal is tied with Stanford (5-5, 4-4) for fourth in the conference standings. The Dec.27 Insight Bowl in Phoenix gets the fourth-place Pac-10 team, but Stanford still needs a sixth win to become bowl eligible.  However, even if Stanford upsets Notre Dame, there is no tiebreaking procedure in any bowl game separate from the Rose Bowl. Bowl committees can pick whichever school they want.  If Arizona State (5-5, 3-4) beats Arizona on Friday, the Sun Devils would have the same Pac-10 record as Cal. But would the Insight Bowl want the hometown team, because ASU fans wouldn't bring the same business to the Phoenix area as, say, Cal's traveling party?  If the Insight does pick ASU, then Cal, as the Pac-10's No.5 team, would be eligible for the Dec.22 Las Vegas Bowl.  But there's still a scenario that could place Cal in the Dec.30 Sun Bowl.

ASU would have to lose to Arizona (3-7, 2-5). And if the BCS selects both USC (11-0, 8-0) and Oregon (10-1, 7-1), then UCLA (9-1, 6-1) moves up to No.2 in the Pac-10 regardless of its Dec.3 game against USC. And Cal, as the No.3 team, would go to the Sun Bowl.  This bowl-juggling will be played out, but late Saturday evening, Cal's senior safety, Donnie McCleskey was basking in his 4-0 Big Game record and his participating in one of the defense's nine sacks.  "There were a lot of coverage sacks as well as pressure sacks — it was a total defensive effort," he said. "We came from every angle today. The quarterback thought we were coming from behind him."  And McCleskey had equal appreciation for Levy, the quarterback who made his first career start the stuff of Big Game legends.  "He stepped up to the challenge," McCleskey said. "He's a crazy quarterback. He'll push himself to the limit. You couldn't call him a quarterback; he's a player. He's played everywhere, and done well everywhere."