Fox Sports: Ten Games That Will Determine the Title

Here is the link.

 

Cal-related discussion:

Sept. 2

No. 12 California @ No. 22 Tennessee: Cal-Tennessee. Yep, doesn't exactly sound like Ohio State vs. Texas, but I wanted to point toward another interesting non-conference matchup to start this off. The way I see it, Cal has a great chance to not only win the Pac-10, but to run the entire table and get to the BCS championship game.

 

Of course, thoughts of Cal running the table in 2006 makes you wonder where USC fits into the hypothesis. After all, USC is reloading, not rebuilding. However, the Trojans have a ton of receipts coming their way from the handfuls of obnoxious Pac-10 blowouts they've dealt out over the past few seasons. For many conference foes, 2006 looks like the best chance to turn in those receipts. While the Leinart-Bush-White blowouts were fun to watch, you know that the Bellottis, Koetters, and Dorrells of the West Coast haven't forgotten. In August, that No. 3 AP preseason ranking looks pretty fit out in Troy, but that 3 could have a 1 or 2 stuck in front of it by November.

 

With USC possibly out of the way for a season, let's look at the dudes from Berkeley. Cal's offense should be difficult to stop as always, but they also should have one of the nation's top defenses this season, led by a defensive line that might be the nation's best. So, on Nov. 18, I'm looking for Tedford's bunch to go into the Coliseum and get that USC win they should've scored that day Aaron Rodgers couldn't miss back in 2004. But Cal can't have an effect on the national championship picture simply by beating USC.

 

Unfortunately for the Golden Bears, one of their biggest hurdles will come in the first game of the season, a trip to ol' Rocky Top. Tennessee's been down lately, but they're not out, especially with offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe returning to call the plays as he did throughout the glory years of the 1990s. Tennessee's even coming into the season ranked 22nd, pretty good for a 5-6 team that only returns 11 starters and lost 28 lettermen. If Cal's two-headed monster at running back (Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett) can run roughshod through a Vol defense that lost six of their front seven starters, the Bears should go home happy, and maybe even eventually Google "things to do in Glendale, AZ in January."

 

However, if we see the Cal offense spending more time struggling in Knoxville than celebrating in its checkerboard end zones, we'll see our first title contender fall before Labor Day. The Tennessee game is a big-time statement game for Cal.