California Golden Bears

Today marks number three on our countdown of the Pac 10 Conference teams.

The California Golden Bears football team was established in 1882. And, not until 1886, were the golden Bears officially playing American football instead of a more rugby-like game. I don't know if it was due to the rugby-nature in this group of men, but in 1906 the California Bears football team was suspend...for being too rough! I thought this was a football game, not tryouts for the cheerleader squad.

The University of California-Berkley was able to reinstate their football team in 1916 and granted their team their very own California Memorial Stadium in 1923. Since they began their program, the California Golden Bears have won two national titles and fourteen conference titles.

Jeff Tedford is now the head coach for the Golden Bears football team. Coach Tedford began coaching in 2001 and the first three years they suffered major losses. Finally, Tedford helped revitalize the program to get the Bears back on track, bringing the team to several bowl games.

Their mascot was actually once a live bear, but now a human dressed as a bear. This mascot bear is dubbed Oski and its the identity of all students who don the Oski costume is carefully kept a secret forever.

With its rich history and strong future, I am excited to see where the Golden Bears will go next!

Arizona Wildcats

I am back with the second of ten teams in my string of history exposes. Today is all about the Arizona Wildcats.

The Arizona Wildcats made their premier in 1899 with James "Pop" McKale as the first coach of Arizona football history. Their first years went down with a resounding thud, but were able to pick it up after they found their footing. Around 1914, Arizona received the name "Wildcats" after Bill Henry, a Los Angeles Times correspondent, wrote that "The Arizona men showed the fight of wildcats".

Over the next few decades, the Arizona Wildcats had many prosperous seasons. The Arizona Wildcats have also produced 13 All-American players and have gained six conference champions as a team. Their record today is 546–402–33 (.573).

In 1992 marked the begging of the Arizona Wildcat's "Desert Swarm" defensive era. Dick Tomey was head coach and his defense was a powerhouse with his All-American Rob Waldrop at nose guard. This lineup allowed Arizona to capture an undefeated season in 1993, and continue on to the Fiesta Bowl where the beat out the Miami Hurricanes 29 to zip. This marked the only shutout it the Fiesta Bowl's 23-year history.

The next few years would be filled with victories along with winning the National Championships and winning the Holiday Bowl. When the Arizona Wildcats hit a plateau for a few years, Dick Tomey decided to resign, bringing a large decline in the Wildcats success with him. Eventually Mike Stoops would join the team as head coach, who helped to improve the program, and brought them to their first bowl game since the Tomey era ten years prior.

With this amount of improvement, there's no telling how far the Arizona Wildcats can go! Make sure to keep an eye on them once the football season rolls around again. I am quite sure you'll be in for a pleasant surprise.

Arizona State Sun Devils

Since the Pac-10 season has come and gone, and I don't have the heart to stop blogging about them until the next season, I thought I'd make it a little routine to give you folks a rundown on each team in our beloved conference.

The Arizona State Sun Devils play for Arizona State University. The Sun Devils have had a successful time in their time as a football team. They won the Rose Bowl in 1987, as well as the Fiesta Bowl in 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, and 1982. The Sun Devils played in the Border Conference from 1931 to 1961, before they joined up with the Western Athletic Conference.

They had great leadership, with legendary head coach Frank Kush at the forefront. That first year in the WAC, the Sun Devils football team posted an amazing 62-9 record between 1970 and 1975. ASU moved into the Pac-10 conference in 1978 and defeated the number-one ranked U of So. Cal team, 20-7. This victory was epic. Over the next few years, the Sun Devils had their major ups and downs, but were always in high spirits. Frank Kush would later retire, and be replaced by a list of coaches.

At one point, after a three year struggle (1997-2000) on the field, head coach Bruce Snyder was dismissed due to a serious lack in.. well...coaching. Dick Koetter was given the chance to pump this team up. The first year went down with a thud, but he was able to gradually improve his team over the next few years. Finally, in 2004, the Sun Devils surprised their fans with some impressive victories and an even better record. Eventually, Koetter was let go for sub par performance, making room for Dennis Erickson to take over. They started out, and are still going, strong with Coach Erickson. Go Sun Devils!

Check back next time for the Arizona Wildcats!

A Little History on the Pac-10

The Pac-10 Conference goes back to December 15, 1915. This is when the Pacific Coast Conference began a year ago and was founded at a meeting in Portland, Oregon. The charter members of the PCC were the University of California, the University of Washington, the University of Oregon and Oregon State College. Washington State College and Standfor University joined the league just two years later. By 1928, the Pacific Coast Conference had all10 teams (hence the Pac-10).

In 1959, there were scandals going on with a few of the colleges and the PCC was split up. That July, the Athletic Association of Western Universites was formed with a few of the original PCC's as the charter members. The AAWU was also known as the Big Six. Finally, by 1978, the conference added two more schools to create its Pacific -10 Conference once more. Since then, there have been few changes with random teams joining and leaving, but the conference is going stronger than ever.

75th Heisman Trophy Award winner

Unless you have been living under a rock, which I have for the past few weeks, you would know that Mark Ingram, Jr. has been awarded the 2009 Heisman Trophy award. Mark Ingram is the running back for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and is the son of NFL wide receiver Mark Ingram, Sr. Mark Ingram winning the Heisman Trophy is a huge deal seeing that he is only the THIRD sophomore in history to win it.

Mark Ingram also is the fifth player in history to win both the prodigious honor and a national championship after rushing for a school-record 1,658 yards. Mark Ingram had some tough competition from runner-up Toby Gerhart who was only 28 points behind him. This is the closest finish in the 75 year history of the Heisman trophy, the second closest being a difference of 45 points in 1985 when Bo Jackson be Chuck Long.

Great job Mark Ingram!

Pac-10 2010 Football Game Schedule announced

The games were announced Wednesday. You can find the complete list for 2010 just click here.

Ohio's long awaited Rose Bowl win

Ohio State was thrilled Saturday when they won 26-17 over the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl. This was the biggest win for Coach Jim Tressel in a long time. Like all the rest of the Big 10 teams, the Oregon Ducks were expected to crush the Buckeyes.

This victory has brought them closer to redemption, especially since this is the first time the Ohio Buckeyes haven't competed in the Rose Bowl for thirteen years. Although the score was neck-and-neck at half, the Ohio Buckeyes clearly were controling the field. Even if it wasn't for a national title, the Ohio Buckeyes are back and ready to shut their competition up.