The Cal Men’s Basketball Schedule for next year was released today, and gosh, well, what can I say?  Here’s what Braun has to say about the schedule:

"We played one of the strongest schedules in the country last year, and this year’s schedule could be even more difficult," said Braun. "We will face some very strong teams from good conferences, and the Pac-10 will be as challenging as ever. It is a schedule I believe our fans will really enjoy."

Not sure about that last one, Ben.  There are some OK games on this schedule, and yes, it’s more difficult that the names might suggest, but there’s nothing on the non-conference slate that makes me break out the TiVo.  In a word?  Yawn.  Lets run down the schedule (with last year’s record/RPI):

Southern Miss (20-11; RPI 129).  OK, this isn’t bad, especially for the first game.  Not a killer game, but it could definitely be competitive.

Nicholls State (8-22; RPI 292).  This is the real dud on the schedule.  A terrible team I’ve never heard of (I had to look up that they’re from Louisiana), I really hate that Cal continues to schedule games like this.

San Diego State (22-11; RPI 66).  The Aztecs are a good team, beating Cal last year in San Diego.  This will be the fourth straight year Cal plays San Diego State, and I’d be all for Cal creating some sort of non-conference rivalry with a decent, local mid-major.

@ Nevada (29-5; RPI 23; WAC Champ).  One of only two non-conference road games for Cal, and a pretty tough one at that, although how tough remains to be seen; Nevada loses Nick Fazekas to the NBA, and may lose Ramon Sessions as well.  This is a return game for last year’s Pete Newell Challenge.

Missouri (18-12; RPI 93).  I’m a big fan of the Pac-10 / Big 12 Challenge.  More exposure for the conferences, and it guarantees every team gets a major-conference game on its non-coference schedule.  That said, this particular matchup is pretty tepid, and will probably be (rightfully)overlooked by the national media.

Jackson State (21-14; RPI 168; SWAC Champ).  Yes, they’re a reigning conference champion, but do you know which state Jackson State is from?  Not a terrible team, but man, I really don’t care.

@ Kansas State (23-11; RPI 56).  A return game from last year’s blowout in Haas.  I like this game, and I look for Bob Huggins‘ team to give Cal a much bigger challenge this year.  In fact, I’d be surprised if Cal pulled this one out.

Delaware State (21-13; RPI 120).  Well, I do know which state this school is in.  That said, I’d still never heard of Delaware State.  Yeah, Cal seems to schedule a lot of those.  Meh.

Utah (11-19; RPI 132).  Clearly not a great team since Andrew Bogut left.  In theory, I’m for scheduling Utah; a big school from a conference I’ve heard of.  In practice, this team isn’t very good, and for that, the schedule makers get a demerit.

Golden Bear Classic
Bucknell (22-9; RPI 77)
Long Beach State (24-8; RPI 79; Big West Champ)
North Dakota State (20-8; RPI 160)
Would you pay to see a two-day tournament involving Cal and these three teams?  I know I wouldn’t.  Clearly, Cal has not heeded my advice regarding the GBC scheduling; these teams are neither big name nor local.  C’mon, if this bunch is the best you can do, just scrap the tournament already.

Notably missing is any mention of the Pete Newell Challenge.  Is that still happening?  Is Cal participating?  There appears to be an opening in the schedule around Christmastime, but perhaps that’s just so players can spend Christmas with their families.  Normally, the Pete Newell challenge is a great opportunity for Cal to get a good (almost) home game against a big-time opponent; if it’s off the schedule, someone has really dropped the ball.

Overall, I’m underwhelmed.  If you’re going to schedule teams like Delaware State, you’ve got to schedule some really good teams for fans to focus on.  You know why no one’s complaining that the football team is playing a cupcake like Louisiana Tech this year?  Because they’re all focused on the rematch with Tennessee.

Also, while only two road games is great for selling tickets, it certainly won’t impress the NCAA selection committee.  Now, those are some tough roadies, so if Cal can pull them out, great.  But if not, zero non-conference road wins is hardly something you want on the resume, no matter how tough those games were.

Final assessment : tougher than it looks, but it looks pretty boring.  Grade : C+.

How else to explain three more Cal games being broadcast on television?  The games in question are:

• California at Arizona State - October 27, 7 PM on Fox Sports Net
• Washington State at California - November 3, 7 PM on Fox Sports Net
• California at Stanford - December 1, 4 PM on Versus

Granted, these games aren’t exactly on broadcast television on any of the major channels, but any television beats no television.  Even though I think Versus is that channel that no one gets that has all the NHL games.  Does anyone even watch that anymore?…<checking Stanley Cup ratings>…apparently not.  With these games, there will be a minimum of six Cal games broadcast on television, including the opener vs. Tennessee, the USC game, and the Colorado State game.  (Wait, what’s that doing on television?)  It’s still possible more Cal games could be broadcast, as stations regularly decide in-season which games to broadcast for the upcoming week.  As the article mentions, at this time last year only five Cal games were scheduled to be aired, and eleven ended up being aired over the course of the year.  So worry not.

Of note in the above article is the quote that, "In the first five years of head coach Jeff Tedford’s tenure, 47 Cal football games have been televised; in the five years prior to that, 30 Cal games were televised."  Which sounds good until you read the next line, "National television broadcasts have more than doubled in that time."  Maybe it is still good, since there are only 12 regular season games every year anyway, and 9.4 games a year (including bowl games) isn’t bad.  What I have to wonder here is why there were even 30 Cal games televised in the five years before that - I mean, the Bears weren’t exactly lighting the world on fire under Tom Holmoe.  But then, watching coaches be completely outclassed and prove to be utterly incompetent on live television can be compelling viewing as well.  Just look at this year’s NBA Finals.

I know Rose Bowl Before I Die will hate me for this, but I wanted to give an update on the Marshawn pro jersey. 

THEY ARE IN STOCK!

Purchase them by going to this link.  I will probably purchase one later in the summer.  And for those interested my birthday is August 3rd.  Just sayin’ is all.  Just sayin’. 

$70 plus S+H.  They only have the home jersey, not the away.  Then again, if you have ever seen the Bills new away jersey, you probably realize we are so very lucky.  They make Victoria Secret’s new Oregon State jersey look good.   So very lucky!

Also, if you ever wanted to get a Bills Takeo Spikes jersey, man are they on sale!  Just 10 bucks.   What an unbelievable deal!

Now, you might be saying to yourself right now "Man, TwistNHook, I love me some Marshawn Bills jersey, but what’s up with the red?"  

Look, contrary to popular belief, I cannot control the Buffalo Bills color scheme.  Anymore.  If you are a bit perturbed by the streaks of red down the side and around the neck, do not worry.  I have you covered.  Here is a link to a Google Map of Alteration stores in Berkeley.  If you move onto the next pages (in the lower left corner), you’ll slowly move out to Alteration stores in locations more remote than Berkeley.  I figured Berkeley was as logical a starting point as any other place, really.  

So, there you go.  Get your Marshawn jersey, take it to an alterations place, get white or blue or yellow or the words MARSHAWN and LYNCH put down the side and you’ll be good to go (Taco Bell Hand Motion).   

Good to GO BEARS! 

• Oregon State decided to debut new uniforms that look kinda like half a bra.  Sexy. 
• And yet, let’s not forget how ghastly Oregon’s uniforms are.
• I don’t know who Craig Haubert is, but he has a mailbag on ESPN.com in which he emphasized the importance of the Tennessee/California game this year as a showcase not only for our Bears, but the Pac-10 as a whole.  Nothing new, but entirely true.
• Bruce Feldman blog entry from about a week and a half ago covering the top 10 blunders in college football history, two of which involve our Bears.  The number one blunder on the list is from 1929 when Roy Riegels ran the wrong way during the Rose Bowl - hey, remember when we actually made the Rose Bowl?  Of course you don’t, you weren’t even alive - and kinda sorta probably cost the Bears the national championship.  Whoops.  Our Bears also clock in at number five for The Play, though that wasn’t a blunder on their part as much as it was of Stanford band member Gary Tyrell getting stampeded by Kevin Moen.
• And here’s a recantation by Stewart Mandel of his commandment regarding the use of "we" and "us" as it relates to college sports teams.  It’s sad to see he gave up so easily; I agreed with his original stance, as you can see here.