Cal drops to #17-AP, #17-Coaches/Harris, #15-BCS

With Saturday’s loss at Arizona, Cal has dropped significantly in the polls. All rankings dropped the Bears at least 7 spots. The AP and the Coaches/Harris polls place Cal at #17 (from #8 and #9, respectively). Meanwhile, the BCS computer rankings now have Cal at #12 (from #4 last week), and combined with the lower human polls Cal is now #15 in the BCS standings.

These rankings are insignificant to Cal’s bowl destiny, as we described on Saturday. The Bears have two possibilities: beat USC and see the Rose Bowl, or lose to USC and end up in the Holiday Bowl. Furthermore, as Ken C correctly pointed out over at Bear Territory, this is not dependent on a Big Game win over Stanford.