[Goose]

I agree with others that Cal has also outperformed this year.

BC

Cal is a bit hard to figure. I do think the fan base expected them to improve over 6-6, and they did, but not by much. Harder to say they "outperformed". They had lots of injuries, especially on the OL and QB, that definitely cost them some games. In that sense, improvement would not be probable, yet it happened. Garbers was much better than advertised. He seems to be one of those guys who isn't obviously superior, he just goes out and wins. OTOH, the defensive secondary was supposed to be very strong. They were not as good as billed. Next year will probably be an inflection point for Wilcox, one way or the other. He has lots of defense to replace. The offense should be as good if not better, although WR is a bit of an issue as I understand it. Recruiting has supposedly not been great, making the defense replacements a bit of a question.

If Cal is better next year than this year, look out, they are going to stick around as a problem for quite a while. If they regress, it is not clear how much patience the fan base will have. The large Wilcox buyout may be his best friend in that case. It sounds a bit crazy that anybody would want to replace the coach after year on year improvement, but one "oh shit" cancels out all the "attaboys" with football fans.

[Goose]

I agree with others that Cal has also outperformed this year.

BC

Cal is a bit hard to figure. I do think the fan base expected them to improve over 6-6, and they did, but not by much. Harder to say they "outperformed". They had lots of injuries, especially on the OL and QB, that definitely cost them some games. In that sense, improvement would not be probable, yet it happened. Garbers was much better than advertised. He seems to be one of those guys who isn't obviously superior, he just goes out and wins. OTOH, the defensive secondary was supposed to be very strong. They were not as good as billed. Next year will probably be an inflection point for Wilcox, one way or the other. He has lots of defense to replace. The offense should be as good if not better, although WR is a bit of an issue as I understand it. Recruiting has supposedly not been great, making the defense replacements a bit of a question.

If Cal is better next year than this year, look out, they are going to stick around as a problem for quite a while. If they regress, it is not clear how much patience the fan base will have. The large Wilcox buyout may be his best friend in that case. It sounds a bit crazy that anybody would want to replace the coach after year on year improvement, but one "oh shit" cancels out all the "attaboys" with football fans.