For three quarters, the California Golden Bears kept it tight with the #5 USC Trojans. So, how does that affect the perception of a team previously ranked in the low 30s? On the one hand, we played them close for three-quarters of the game, so we can’t be that bad, right? Alternatively, is a loss nothing more than a loss?
Well, there’s a pretty clear answer from the official pollsters—across the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll, the Bears lost 30 of the 37 points we had earned by beating the Ole Miss Rebels.