Pac 12 North Preview- California

With the NCAA season quickly approaching, I have taken it upon myself to preview every team from all the major BCS conferences for the upcoming season. To begin, I will preview the Pac 12, starting with teams from the North Division. First up is the California Golden Bears.

After an up and down 7-6 season that saw the Bears struggle against the top teams in the Pac 12, the Cal Golden Bears look to build off an offense that will be returning key starters at the skill positions this season. Senior QB Zach Maynard returns to lead the offense after throwing for 3000 yards and 17 touchdowns last season.  Maynard will be joined by running backs Isi Sofele and C.J. Anderson in the Bears backfield, who ran for a combined total of 1,667 yards and 18 touchdowns between the two of them last season.  Wide Receiver  Keenan Allen, Maynard's half brother, also returns after an impressive season that caught the attention of many NFL scouts.  Allen caught 98 passes for 1343 yards and six touchdowns last season.  Allen will need to repeat this type of production this season for the Bears to compete against the upper echelon of the Pac 12, since he is the only returning starter at wide out for the Bears. The Bears offensive line will also return three of the five starters from last years squad as well.  Maynard will need to cut down on his turnovers and increase his efficiency for the Bears to compete for a Pac 12 title.  With the major skill players returning and a year of experience under Maynard's belt, the Bears should be an offensive force in the Pac 12 this year.

The question for the Bears this season is "Will they be able to stop teams like USC and Oregon from scoring and create turnovers?" Last year, the Bears defense ranked #1 in yards allowed, #3 in total sacks and #5 in interceptions among the Pac 12 teams.  However, defensive stalwarts Mychal Kendricks and Trevor Guyton are now in the NFL and even with these play makers, the Bears allowed 43 points to Oregon, 31 to Washington and Stanford and 30 to USC.  The defense will need to improve against these types of foes if the Bears plan to compete for a Pac 12 championship this season.  The good news for the Bears though is that outside of USC, the rest of the Pac 12's potent offenses are rebuilding in some capacity  after losing key players on the offensive side of the ball. This, along with a favorable Pac 12 schedule, should help the Bears place in the top two in the North division standings. 

While many expect Oregon to be Cal's biggest threat to a Pac 12 North title, I believe Washington is the only team standing in the Bears way. With Stanford and Oregon losing their two biggest play makers on the offensive side of the ball(Stanford-Luck and Fleener, Oregon-Thomas and James) along with Oregon State and Washington State being a year or two away from competing at the top, Washington is the only threat in my eyes for Cal.  Cal will need to find a way to stop Huskies Quarterback Keith Price, who had a sensational year last year, but will need to do it again this year without Running Back Chris Polk and leading receivers Jermaine Kearse and Devin Aguilar. With the losses of these players along with the fact the game is in Berkley, I believe Cal will beat the Huskies and will ultimately represent the North Division in the Pac 12 title game despite two conference losses.

2012 Schedule Prediction 9-3 Overall 7-2 Conference

Nevada                    W   31-14

Southern Utah          W   42-10

@Ohio State             L   14-28

@USC                      L   24- 42

Arizona State            W  38-21

UCLA                       W  28-17

@Washington State   L   35-42 OT

Stanford                    W  28-21

Utah                         W  35-17

Washington               W  42-35

Oregon                     W   38-35

@Oregon State         W   42-14