Over the last decade, it seems as though every team in the Pac-10 has been dominate in the league at some point. Arizona State had Jake Plummer lead them to a Rose Bowl berth, and Cade McNown had the UCLA Bruins on the front page while Trung Canidate was leading the Arizona Wildcats. Oregon State and Oregon had Steven Jackson and Joey Harrington leading the teams and Washington and Washington State each made their runs after Tyrone Willingham led Stanford to a surprising season. USC is arguably the best team in the nation last year and at this point in time, so who have we forgotten? The only team left in the conference that wasn’t named was the #19 on my pre-season poll, the team out of Berkeley, the California Bears.

Cal is arguably the second best team in the conference (behind USC) but they feel that they can play with anyone this season. Coach Jeff Tedford saw his team was banged up in the spring training sessions and cancelled the spring game in the hopes that the team could get healthy quicker. The Bears return 16 starters from the 2003 team that finished 8-6 but the added experience should bring that record up in 2004. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers and receivers Geoff McArthur and Jonathan Makonnen will lead an offense that is ranked fourth coming into the 2004 season. The team lost RB Adimchinobe Echemandu, but senior J.J. Arrington, who averaged 5.7 yards per carry last season, will step in this year and could finish near 1,000 yards on the season. Rodgers completed 215 of 349 passes for 2,903 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions last season as a sophomore and will likely be a first-round draft pick if he chooses to leave after this season. McArthur finished last year with 85 catches, 1,500 yards, and ten scores but was overshadowed by receivers like Larry Fitzgerald, Mike Williams, and Roy Williams. McArthur will lead one of the most explosive offenses in the nation in 2004. Defensive tackle Lorenzo Alexander and safety Donnie McCleskey are standouts on the defensive side of the ball and should compete for all-Pac 10 honors this season. Both guys play team ball and McCleskey is only a sophomore and should spend at least his junior season at Cal as well.

The Bears open their conference schedule on the road at Oregon State on October 2 and USC on October 9, two games that could spell the end of a run at a conference championship or could put the team atop the standings. October 16 will see the Bears host the UCLA Bruins, their cross-town rivals. The fans at the Bears are anxious to see a team that could possibly compete for a conference championship and a national championship, and increased ticket sales have opened the possibility of a renovation project on Memorial Stadium. If the Bears can get through the opening two weeks of the Pac-10, the schedule is favorable the rest of the way and a BCS bowl bid isn’t out of the question.

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