Cal's luck increases--moves to #2!

What a delight to watch Stanford knock off #1 USC on Saturday night...(followed by the Rockies sweeping the Phillies in the National League Championship Series!). How does a team that is favored to win by over 40 points (USC) lose to a team that went 1-11 last year? Here's my theory: If you play / played sports you'll understand. In most every game, some athletes play very well, most give an average performance and a couple perform below par. If you play a 12 game season, you will well remember your best game of the year and...your worst game of the year. In Saturday's game, no doubt every Stanford player will say he played his best game of the year against USC. Conversely, every USC player will say individually played his worst game. It's this mismatch that allows these type of upsets that happened this year when Appalachian State beat Michigan and Colorado upset Oklahoma.

But one way or another Cal is ranked #2--the highest ranking since Pappy Waldorf was the coach in 1951. It looks like our prayers for good luck may be answered.

From the Cal Website:
Poll Positions
A bye week, coupled with a USC 24-23 loss to Stanford, helped the Golden Bears move up one spot in both the AP and USA Today polls to No. 2 in the country. The last time Cal was ranked higher than No. 2 was the Oct. 16th ranking in 1951 when the Golden Bears climbed to No. 1 following a victory over Washington State. The Bears held that ranking for one week before losing to USC. California has now been ranked in the AP poll for 24 straight weeks and 50 of the last 54 weeks of rankings. The Bears have been ranked in the top three just eight times in the last 68 years. Overall, Cal has been ranked in the top three 15 times, including seven straight weeks being ranked in the top two during 1937, the second year of the AP poll. The 1937 team, coached by legendary Stub Allison, captured Cal's last football national championship after defeating Alabama, 13-0, in the 1938 Rose Bowl.