2011 could be coined the year of mediocrity for the Cal Golden Bears. The team wasn\u2019t all that bad in any one area, but they also didn\u2019t have any great strengths as a team. California finished 7-6 and just 4-5 in the PAC 12 Conference in the 2011 season. <\/p>\n
PAC 12 Conference 2012-2013 College Football Previews: California Golden Bears
\nHead Coach: Jeff Tedford
\n2011 Record: 7-6
\nCal Gambling Odds from BetOnline to win BCS Championship: +8,000
\nCal Gambling Odds from BetOnline to win PAC 12 Conference: +1,200<\/strong>
\nCalifornia Team Page \u2013 Players Stats \u2013 Roster \u2013 2012 Schedule \u2013><\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nJeff Tedford\u2019s team hasn\u2019t been any better than average of late, and he\u2019s starting to get more pressure from the Golden Bears fan base.<\/p>\n
Cal\u2019s best player last year was linebacker Mychal Kendricks. Kendricks was the PAC 12 Defensive Player of the Year, but he is now in the NFL. The Golden Bears must find a new defensive leader. On the offensive end, the Golden Bears must be more consistent. Can the team move up a step this year or will they stay in the middle of the pack?<\/p>\n
Team Strengths:<\/h3>\n
Isi Sofele may not be as well-known nationally as he should be, but the Cal coaching staff knows how good of a running back he is for this team. Sofele ran for 1,322 yards last season, which was the sixth best season in Cal football history. Sofele is a versatile back who has great vision of the field. C.J. Anderson is stepping up in the offseason, and I expect him to be a solid backup for Sofele.<\/p>\n
The secondary has a lot of experience that should help them a great deal in 2012. Josh Hill is a very underrated safety who has a hand in almost every play. Marc Anthony is a veteran cornerback who will be given the task of slowing down the opposing teams best wideout each game.<\/p>\n
Team Weaknesses:<\/h3>\n
Cal\u2019s linebackers go from a major strength to a weakness with the loss of Kendricks. Cal has several young guys who will get plenty of time at the linebacker spots, but none of them are even close to the player that Kendricks was. You won\u2019t see the Golden Bears in the opponents backfield nearly as much this year.<\/p>\n
Keenan Allen is a terrific receiver, but behind him the Bears don\u2019t have much depth at all. Allen has been dealing with injuries during the offseason, which doesn\u2019t bode well for the team. After Allen, Cal will have to rely on several youngsters who have no real experience on the field.<\/p>\n
2012-2013 Cal Golden Bears Football Prediction: 6-6<\/h3>\n
One guy who was notably absent from this season preview article so far was Zach Maynard. Maynard will be Cal\u2019s signal caller again. He could be considered a strength or a weakness, depending on your viewpoint. Maynard is a terrific athlete who makes some amazing plays, but he turns the ball over too much and makes silly mistakes. If this team is going to have a good season, they need Maynard to make a lot of progress from last year.<\/p>\n
In the end, I expect another mediocre season from the Golden Bears. It wouldn\u2019t shock me to see them below .500, but I\u2019ll put them right at .500 for my official prediction.<\/p>\n
2012 Cal Golden Bears Schedule<\/h3>\n
9\/1\/12 TBD NEV
\n9\/8\/12 TBD SUTAH
\n9\/15\/12 12:00 PM ET @OHIST
\n9\/22\/12 TBD @USC
\n9\/29\/12 TBD ARZST
\n10\/6\/12 TBD UCLA
\n10\/13\/12 TBD @WSHST
\n10\/20\/12 TBD STAN
\n10\/27\/12 TBD @UTAH
\n11\/2\/12 9:00 PM ET WASH
\n11\/10\/12 TBD ORE
\n11\/17\/12 TBD @OREST<\/p>\nGRAB OUR BEST Expert CFB Picks for 2012 NCAA FOOTBALL Betting! \u2014\u2013><\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2012-13 Football Previews \u2013 (Pac 12) \u2013 Cal Golden Bears 2011 could be coined the year of mediocrity for the Cal Golden Bears. The team wasn\u2019t all that bad in any one area, but they also didn\u2019t have any great strengths as a team. California finished 7-6 and just 4-5 in the PAC 12 Conference […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":29599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[44530,55517,49957,55735,50255,50256,1688,50257,50258,19973,50219,50220,50221],"class_list":["post-52715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-2012-bcs-lines","tag-2012-pac-12-football-previews","tag-bcs-sportsbook-odds","tag-cal-football","tag-california-football-predictions","tag-california-gambling-odds","tag-california-golden-bears","tag-california-schedule","tag-golden-bears-bcs-futures","tag-golden-bears-predictions","tag-pac-12-football-predictions","tag-pac-12-odds","tag-pac-12-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52715"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53209,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52715\/revisions\/53209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}