This looks like a titanic Pac-10 showdown when you do it this way. Cal even has the edge due to superior defensive statistics.

Stats courtesy of cfbstats.com

I can explain Cal's season. This coaching career...no idea how that happens.

There is nothing more perplexing in all of college football than the California Bears. Perhaps the career arc of Lane Kiffin, but that’s not up for debate right now.

Cal is essentially fielding two entirely different teams this season. You have the home Bears and road Bears. One team looks like a national title contender, the other slightly better than New Mexico.

Home Bears are 4-0 and outscoring opponents by an average margin of 38.8 points per game. Road Bears are 1-4 and losing by an average margin of 15.4 points per game.

It’s just your average 54.2 point differential. If I was a Cal fan, this would leave me in therapy, but that’s their problem to deal with.

The competition partly explains the wild swing in performance. Cal’s road opponents are a combined 26-19 while teams they play at home are 15-21. None of the teams on the home schedule have a winning record.

Yes, it’s reasonable to expect less success against that road schedule, but a difference in margin of 54.2 points? No way.

Cal is clearly a much better team at home. For Oregon, that means the level of competition is better than the Bears’ 5-4 record would indicate. After all, home Bears lead the nation in scoring defense and are second in scoring offense.

One could say that with quarterback Kevin Riley out for the season, whatever Cal had going at home is gone. After all, only Andrew Luck had a better rating at home among Pac-10 QBs.

But there’s still that defense. Home Bears only give up 8.5 points per game. Since 2007, no team has been tougher on Chip Kelly’s offense than Cal.

Am I predicting home Bears to win? Of course not. But a competitive game is at least as reasonable as “Oregon 18, Washington 13″ in the third quarter and that actually happened.

California Bears Home/Road Splits

Courtesy of cfbstats.com

Seeing as how I reported Ed Dickson missing a couple weeks ago, figured I'd let Oregon know I found him.

Sunday is so much nicer after a win.

1. I’m young. I always operate under the assumption that football started in 1994. So when I say that was the best all-around performance in a regular season game by Oregon, it’s without a lot of perspective. Still, it’s hard to imagine the Ducks ever being more abusive to a top ten team.
2. Chin up Cal, you’re not the first to see dreams die at the hands of Autzen. Now, do you understand?
3. As one text I got during the game said, “anything you can do, we can do worser!” Every time Oregon made a mistake, Cal returned the favor whether it was a fumble or a five yard punt.
4. For those of you watching the game on TV, how excited are you for ABC’s new comedy lineup? Kelsey Grammer is a businessman turned family man in Hank! It’s hilarious!
5. Can we hire someone to permanently follow Jeremiah Masoli and berate him? I figure the more we heckle this guy, the better chance we have of willing him to a Heisman Trophy. Most of us need food and water to subsist. He apparently feeds only on your doubts.
6. Jahvid Best, you may formally transfer your Heisman Trophy application to LaMichael James. If you need the address, let me know.
7. Note: The previous two Heisman statements are jokes. Let’s not get carried away here.
8. Andy Ludwig should be forever banned from Autzen Stadium. Well, he’s welcome anytime as far as I’m concerned, but I would just leave him at home if I’m Tedford.
9. For those of you wanting some Nate Costa against Cal, wish granted.
10. Someone send John Canzano a schedule and ask him if he can find six wins for Oregon. Just sayin’.
11. Speaking of which, how good does the schedule look all of a sudden?
12. Uh, Washington fans, consider this our response to the loud barking you’ve been doing in the wake of your USC win. We’ll be ready.

FOTB Prediction: Not this week.  The retro unis are in effect, thereby taking all the fun out of guessing the uniform combination.

You wanna’ know something? I’m a fan and if I don’t want to be logical, then dammit, I don’t have to be. So sets the stage for the rest of this post.

I could have done it. I could have said Cal over Oregon and nobody would blame me. Cal has its top running back, they don’t turn the ball over, they’re efficient. Basically, they’re everything Oregon is not. Of course picking Cal makes sense.

But I don’t want to.

It’s in Autzen Stadium and before some miracle of fumbles two years ago, Cal hadn’t won there since Oregon wore, well, what they’re going to wear on Saturday I guess. This isn’t their stadium. It’s not their fans. They’re not superior in talent. Who’s to say the Ducks can’t win this game?

Sure, it’s going to take a performance from Jeremiah Masoli that none of us have seen since I was dancing in the aisles of Qualcomm Stadium under the influence of an elixir called, damn, what the hell was I drinking that day? That was fun.

And yes, it’s going to take an even better performance from the defense than we saw against Utah. Can’t turn the ball over either. And better not have drive-killing penalties. Whew, this is starting to add up. Maybe I should rethink this pick.

“Snap out of it Nick!”

Huh, oh yeah.

I’m picking Oregon. That’s right, the Ducks!

And if they don’t win, well, does Chip do refunds on gambled wages?

Have you heard all the talk that you might be the team to beat this year? No, seriously, everyone thinks you’re going to dethrone the Trojans of Troy. They say Jahvid Best might be a Heisman front-runner and that he could run all over USC’s defense. Your secondary, that’s a good unit, too. It looks like Matt Barkley could throw a few picks your way.

You’re excited, aren’t you? Has there ever been a bigger game in the history of your stadium? Probably not. Just think of all that energy flowing through the stadium right before the ball is kicked off. This is going to be your chance to stick your flag in the Pac-10′s proverbial surface and proclaim it Golden Bear country.

Nobody blames you for looking ahead. I’d be excited, too. I’d probably gloss right over the patsy on the schedule that you haven’t lost to in 4 years. In fact, you should. Rest up, stay healthy. Mentally prepare yourselves for the juggernaut that is USC.

If nothing else, at least you’ll have an excuse on Sunday.