[qwerty49]

Mostly, as a regular season ticket holder, I want the conference season to be exciting and fun, and part of that means having a competitive game between Cal and Stanford for Big Game.  Unlike some other teams, which I derive some joy if they don't go to a bowl game *cough* USC and Notre Dame *cough*, it doesn't bother me that much if Cal goes to the Vegas Bowl or Chicken Bowl.  Basically, as long as a) they don't go to the Rose Bowl and b) they don't beat us out for a bowl, I wish them reasonably well.

BC

I think your wish will be fulfilled.  There seems to be a lot of parity in the conference this year, with as many as 7-8 teams who could be competitive with each other on any given Saturday.  That would seem to fit your criterion for the conference games being exciting.  

.Cal is not very good this year, but they did play Oregon pretty straight up for 3 quarters.  They usually get really psyched up for us, and it seems they always play us pretty tough.  

It's worth wondering if they will ever escape the long-term recruiting disadvantages that now seem embedded there -- the highest academic standards in the UC system, a relative dearth of African-Americans in the student body, a campus embedded in an urban community that won't appeal to everyone.

As someone else noted elsewhere in this thread, if they descend to irrevocable doormat status (and they are close IMO), there's little upside to playing them.  But the same arguments can be made for scheduling Sac State and UCDavis, etc.

[qwerty49]

Mostly, as a regular season ticket holder, I want the conference season to be exciting and fun, and part of that means having a competitive game between Cal and Stanford for Big Game.  Unlike some other teams, which I derive some joy if they don't go to a bowl game *cough* USC and Notre Dame *cough*, it doesn't bother me that much if Cal goes to the Vegas Bowl or Chicken Bowl.  Basically, as long as a) they don't go to the Rose Bowl and b) they don't beat us out for a bowl, I wish them reasonably well.

BC

I think your wish will be fulfilled.  There seems to be a lot of parity in the conference this year, with as many as 7-8 teams who could be competitive with each other on any given Saturday.  That would seem to fit your criterion for the conference games being exciting.  

.Cal is not very good this year, but they did play Oregon pretty straight up for 3 quarters.  They usually get really psyched up for us, and it seems they always play us pretty tough.  

It's worth wondering if they will ever escape the long-term recruiting disadvantages that now seem embedded there -- the highest academic standards in the UC system, a relative dearth of African-Americans in the student body, a campus embedded in an urban community that won't appeal to everyone.

As someone else noted elsewhere in this thread, if they descend to irrevocable doormat status (and they are close IMO), there's little upside to playing them.  But the same arguments can be made for scheduling Sac State and UCDavis, etc.