Canzano: Cal smiling... while Civil War and Apple Cup heat up

Spanning the globe... news, opinions, facts, thoughts.

Justin Wilcox celebrates in the locker room after Cal’s win vs. Auburn. (Photo: Cal)

Spanning the globe…

• Have you ever seen Justin Wilcox as fired up as he was on Saturday after winning 21-14 at Auburn? The guy was as emotional, demonstrative, smiling, and a lot of fun. Said Wilcox after the win: “This can’t be the best we play all year. We’ve got to continue to grind and play better.”

• The Bears host San Diego State on Saturday. Then, play at Florida State in two weeks. Cal might be 4-0 when it hosts No. 10-ranked Miami and Mario Cristobal on Oct. 5. If both are undefeated, could we see ESPN GameDay in Berkeley? Discuss.

• There are some winnable ACC games on the Cal schedule (at Pitt, at Wake Forest, at SMU, vs. Syracuse, vs. Stanford). Not to make too much of one big victory, but there’s an 8 or 9-win season out there for Wilcox if Cal stays hot.

• Kansas State at BYU was revealed as ESPN’s 7:30 p.m. PT kickoff on Sept. 21. That game should do well in Salt Lake City, but looks like a dud for viewers in the Pacific Time Zone.

• I’m wondering if ESPN will regret walking away from the Pac-12 during those fateful media rights negotiations. The network could have had 10 schools (adding San Diego State) in markets such as Seattle, the Bay Area, Portland, San Diego, Salt Lake City, and Phoenix.

• Let’s keep an eye on the ratings for the 7:30 p.m. kickoffs. It looks to me like FOX (with Oregon, USC, UCLA, and Washington) may trounce ESPN in late kickoff games.

• Commissioner George Kliavkoff and his band of merry presidents botched the negotiation, but I wonder if Disney misplayed its hand, too.

• The current Pac-12 schools and the conference’s 10 former members are a combined 21-2 this season. There was nothing wrong with the Pac-12 football product, was there?

• I published a piece on Tuesday, reporting that the Pac-12 has hired Navigate as a consultant. The firm, founded by AJ Maestas, has a well-established track record. One long-time college administrator sent me a text after I published: “AJ will give them a chance.”

• The riff between the Pac-12 and Mountain West won’t improve in the coming months. Particularly if it comes to poaching. Does the Pac-12 covet San Diego State and Boise State? How about UNLV? What about Fresno State and/or Colorado State?Anyone else? Stay tuned.

• Remember the $10 million-per-school poaching penalties that were part of the Pac-12 and MWC scheduling contract? They do NOT end with the expiration of the one-year deal. Gloria Nevarez, the Mountain West commissioner, pointed out that the poaching penalties still apply until Aug. 1, 2027.

• Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould set aside $65 million for a potential rebuild. If the Pac-12 decides to go shopping, it has some cash.

• MWC schools face stiff exit fees tied to a percentage of the conference media-rights deal. Currently, the fee would be north of $17 million per school, if they provide a withdrawal notice two years ahead. The penalty doubles if the schools withdrawal with only one year of notice.

• Potential Mountain West defectors may be restless but would need a financial incentive to run toward. USC/UCLA didn’t just ditch the Pac-12 for a change of scenery. Neither did Oregon/Washington. It’s like one brutally honest college administrator said amid the realignment scramble two summers ago: “F**k tradition, we need $60 million to make it work.”

• I wonder how big The CW’s appetite is for more football in the Pacific Time Zone. We won’t have to wait long for the answer.

• The Pac-12 has a grace period until the summer of 2026 to rebuild to a minimum of eight teams. I’ve wondered if the conference might seek an extension to that NCAA deadline. The two members don’t appear to have any problems scheduling football games. The Pac-12’s College Football Playoff revenues are locked in for the first three years of the new deal (beginning in the 2026-27 season). Would the Pac-12 schools try to operate as quasi-independents and buy more time?

• I have Oregon State coach Trent Bray on the radio show on Wednesday (5:20 pm.) and Oregon’s Dan Lanning on Thursday (4:20 p.m.). Tune in. Should be fun talks.

• I asked an Oregon State official how many “standing room only” tickets remained for Saturday’s football game. The Beavers are selling them for $90 per ticket. I was told there were 82 tickets left. I jotted it down.

• Seconds later, an update came: “81.”

• Have you ever bought a standing-room-only ticket for a football game? Tell me what that’s like in the comment section.

• Jason Benetti, Brock Huard, and Allison Williams will be on the Civil War TV call for FOX on Saturday.

• A Civil War gem pulled from the state newspaper archives: “In 1953, a group of Oregon fans were caught red-handed burning a giant “O” on a campus lawn in Corvallis.”

• And another here: “During the 1946 game, Oregon State students kidnapped Oregon’s live duck mascot, Puddles.”

• Do kids do those kinds of things anymore?

• Yes, I’m still referring to the Ducks-Beavers rivalry game as the “Civil War.” I explained why here.

• I got a peek at Snapdragon Stadium last Saturday. Very well done by San Diego State. The school owns the 35,000-seat football stadium and is collecting $200,000 per game from the MLS team that uses it.

• Boise State got some votes in the Top 25 poll this week after a narrow loss at Oregon. The Broncos finished just outside the rankings with 77 points. Fellow Mountain West contender UNLV got seven votes.

• I went 7-4 against the spread in Week 2 of the college football season and 10-1 picking games straight up. My season record against the spread is 19-7. I’m 25-1, straight up. I’ll post my predictions for Week 3 on Thursday.

• Who do you like in the Apple Cup? Tell me in the comment section. I couldn’t believe Washington State opened as an 8.5-point underdog vs. the Huskies. That was quickly bet down to 4.5 points.

• Speaking of rivalries, I’ve circled the Holy War on my calendar. The BYU-Utah rivalry game is going to be played on Nov. 9 in Salt Lake City. Ever been to it in person? I’m fascinated. Tell me what that rivalry game is like in the comment section.

• Kenny Dillingham is undefeated at Arizona State (2-0) this season. The Sun Devils are positioning themselves for a run at bowl eligibility. ASU is a 1.5-point underdog at Texas State this weekend. 3-0 would be halfway there.

• ASU could match their entire win total (3-9) from last season this week. I asked Doug Tammaro, the long-time media relations czar in Tempe, how Dillingham’s act was playing locally. Tammaro said: “He’s an efficient ball of energy, and keeps it fun for our dudes, and loves this team.”

• Is there a player in America more valuable to his team than QB Cam Rising is to Utah? With him in the game, the Utes blistered Baylor last Saturday. Without him in the second half, the offense looked anemic.

• Coach Kyle Whittingham says the injury to Rising’s finger isn’t as serious as initially thought. Whittingham said: “He may be back this week. We’ll see.”

• I’ll wait to see Rising back on the field with my own eyes before drawing any conclusions. (Did we learn from last season?) The Utes play at Utah State this week. They really need Rising back in two weeks at No. 13 Oklahoma State.

• Stanford is 1-1. I can’t be alone in wondering how much of backup quarterback Elijah Brown we’ll see this season. The true freshman was 7-for-7 passing and led a fourth-quarter TD drive in a blowout win over Cal Poly. I expect coach Troy Taylor will stay with current starter, Ashton Daniels, with road games (at Syracuse and Clemson) ahead. But Brown’s potential upside has Stanford fans wondering.

• Portland State plays at home on Saturday against South Dakota, the No. 6-ranked team in FCS. Kickoff is 1 p.m. It’s the first meeting in history between the schools.

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