Well, the two best teams in California might be Fresno State and San Diego State. They play on October 30...
But talking Pac-12, I wouldn't write off USC just yet. Their remaining schedule is vs Oregon State, @ Colorado, vs Utah, @ Notre Dame, vs Arizona, @ ASU, @ Cal, vs UCLA, vs BYU.
If USC runs the table through the Notre Dame game, I could see the USC-ASU game on GameDay. Also, the USC-UCLA game on November 20, although I imagine there would be a lot of competitive games played that day. Maybe the BYU game on November 27, especially if BYU wins out until then. BYU's toughest remaining opponent--other than USC--just might be Utah State.
But talking Pac-12, I wouldn't write off USC just yet. Their remaining schedule is vs Oregon State, @ Colorado, vs Utah, @ Notre Dame, vs Arizona, @ ASU, @ Cal, vs UCLA, vs BYU.
If USC runs the table through the Notre Dame game, I could see the USC-ASU game on GameDay. Also, the USC-UCLA game on November 20, although I imagine there would be a lot of competitive games played that day. Maybe the BYU game on November 27, especially if BYU wins out until then. BYU's toughest remaining opponent--other than USC--just might be Utah State.
If there's one thing people have learned in Berkeley, it's that you can't put "Cal football" and "Rose Bowl" in the same sentence. The words just don't fit. You'd be better off linking "covered wagons" with "Mars travel." (Bruce Jenkins, Cal '70, SF Chronicle, Nov. 11, 2017)