BREAK OUT THE BELL BOTTOMS

In our review of Cal victories over the Trojans, we were struck by the eerie similarities between this week's game and the 1975 contest between the two schools. In 1975:

• Cal was led by a highly-regarded QB in his first year as the starter (Joe Roth)
• Cal featured a dominant running back who received Heisman attention (Chuck Muncie)
• Cal was an offense-first, big-play team with a suspect defense
• The Bears were led by a young, innovative coach who had come to Berkeley from an assistant job with a conference rival (Mike White - Stanford)
• Cal was coming off a disappointing road loss in the prior game (UCLA)
• Cal had lost its season opener to a non-conference power (Colorado)
• USC was a three-time defending conference champion
• The Trojans were led by a head coach who had won multiple national championships, and was the subject of constant rumors that he was heading for the pros (John McKay)
• USC was rated in the Top 5 (#4), but had been somewhat inconsistent in its play
• Despite that inconsistency, SC was coming off a big, reassuring victory (at Notre Dame)
• USC was the clear favorite in the game
• (just for fun) Ohio State was the consensus #1 team in the nation, and a Buckeye was the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy (Archie Griffin)

We could go on - Tom Newton is Byron Storer, Wesley Walker is DeSean, but you get the point. So while many Old Blues are reaching back to 1958 - the last year Cal made it to a Rose Bowl - we'll be channelling 1975 this week and we encourage you to do the same. For iPod users so inclined, here's a playlist of music that was on somebody's 8-track in November 1975:

Tangled Up in Blue - Bob Dylan/Lively Up Yourself - Bob Marley/Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen/Young Americans - David Bowie/Black Friday - Steely Dan/Instant Karma - John Lennon/Tonight's the Night - Neil Young/Kashmir - Led Zeppelin/Gloria - Patti Smith/Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen/Personality Crisis - New York Dolls/That's The Way of the World - Earth, Wind & Fire/Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd/Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac/Fight the Power Pt. 1 - Isley Brothers/Toys in the Attic - Aerosmith/The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - Gil Scott Heron/Tears of Rage - The Band

Now this is an alternate jersey I could support