This past weekend I sat down with Michelle Moshkovoy and Emmanuel Macedo, the deputy sports editors for the Daily Californian at the University of California, Berkeley for a Q&A for their gameday edition linked here. 

I asked Emmanuel Macedo a couple of questions regarding the Oregon State and Cal matchup, on October 26. 

The Beavers lost against Cal 44-7 at Memorial Stadium and play again on August 30, 2024, at Reser Stadium, the Beavers’ first matchup next season.

What are your thoughts on Cal’s team right now?

I think it’s a very solid group of players, obviously, the team has been decimated by injuries. Up to this point, there is a number of receivers notably, Tobias Merriweather and Kyion Grayes, that haven’t gotten the chance to step on the field yet and I think it’s been impactful. I’m sure as you’re well aware the team has lost four straight by a combined nine points. You can feel the energy in the stadium, you can feel the energy from the players. They’re not happy about the place they’re in, but I think that they’re very happy, especially coach Wilcox, about the guys that have stepped up to fill in the roles that have been plagued by injuries, but overall it’s a strong, resilient group of guys and I’m sure they’re hoping to get it done the rest of the way. 

How do you think these two teams will play against each other given their history together in a now nonconference battle?

I think they’re both going to be very excited to still be playing each other. I know last summer when it was just the “Pac-4” remaining, these were four programs that really wanted to stick together, but the administration at Stanford and here at Cal thought differently. Speaking from myself, I was obviously disappointed when that happened, I think Oregon State and Washington State very much got the short end of the stick and were hung out to dry, but I think they’re going to be really excited to keep this story/matchup alive. I understand that Oregon State is a much different team now than last season’s tough battle, but I think both sides are going to be ready to go come Saturday. 

Oregon State and Cal play against each other again in the 2025-26 season, so the matchup will continue despite different conferences.  

How have your media rights and publicity changed?

I think publicity has been huge for the university. We had Gameday here three weeks ago now, and we have been on pretty much the national spotlight every week in the conference so I think as a whole we have had a much better spotlight than the Pac-12 offered under the leadership of George Kliavkoff. Obviously, he kind of gave less to the schools that weren’t doing so hot, so that’s why those big guys thought they could tear apart the conference, but I think in the ACC, even though we are giving up a huge portion of the media rights deal, the school is benefiting greatly. The program is benefiting greatly, so with basketball starting soon I believe it is only going to get better from here.

Do you think you made the right move going to the ACC?

In hindsight, yeah I would say so. Obviously, the football team is still undefeated in the conference, they’re still kind of struggling, but the media attention has been the most important aspect thus far change. Like I said, last summer it kind of just looks bleak, so I mean even then for the “Pac-4” it made sense to jump the burning ship, but it was tough having to leave behind Oregon State and Washington State because those were clearly two deserving programs as well, which are proving at least this point in the season that they are deserving Power 5 or 4 programs. They also deserve a spot, so in hindsight, the move has been worth it up to this point  in terms of the attention on the university, but when it first happened it kind of did not make any sense at all. 

Do you think you could see Cal coming back to the Pac-12?

I think Cal would definitely consider coming back to the Pac, mainly because FSU and Clemson are still in litigation with the ACC about themselves existing the conference. We could potentially see the ACC fall apart as well and get to Power 3 and Cal and Stanford jumping ship back to the Pac-12. It’s very real in the sense that the university is losing a lot of money in taking a less percentage of media rights. To cut the answer short, in a perfect world, Cal returns to the Pac-12.

Do you think the ACC is just as tough as the Pac-12 used to be?

100%. I think last season was the toughest that the Pac-12 has ever been maybe across the last five or so years. There was a point where Cal was going to face six ranked teams in a row in conference, and it was funny that that happened the last year of the conference was coming to an end because it just spoke volumes to what the football programs could do, what they brought to the table if anything. this is going to be a deep cut, but Oregon themselves is the number one ranked school in the country right now, and that could have been a Pac-12 school. If anything, UCLA and USC who ripped everyone apart are showing they don’t belong in the Big 10. I think the ACC has been a challenge to this point, it was projected to be an even bigger challenge, but I think when the football team is one or two plays away from being 7-0, it shows the ACC is both competitive and that Cal is ready and willing to be competitive in a conference as well. 

How do you think the athletes are handling the travel?

The athletes are handling the travel pretty well. The football leaves on Thursday mornings for away days on the Atlantic coast. They get the day to acclimate to the time difference and really you don’t see any type of sluggishness from them because of that, they’re ready to go. They’re going to historically powerhouse schools so they’re ready for the noise as well. They faced it in the Pac, in Eugene, and in Seattle. They know what it’s like to play when they can’t hear each other on the field, so I think that has been an added step to the travel as well. We have seen that also ACC fans travel remarkably well. Saw a lot of red at NC State, saw definitely tons of orange against Miami. ACC fans travel well, but that also speaks to the reputation of the conference I would say.

What are the new challenges that your school is facing with the move? And then what are some of the benefits?

With benefits, the national spotlight has been huge. I believe against Miami the university hosted around 800 high school recruits, which is an insanely high number, but definitely, the biggest downside is having to lose that cut of the media rights deal because that’s exactly why the Pac-12 fell apart, and especially with the university already struggling with the Memorial Stadium debt. With that already being on the back of the plate every season, as the seasons go on, it’s a concern, especially playing in one of the oldest stadiums in college football. When things start to get rigidity and it can’t be paid for, can’t be repaired, it’s a concern. Other athletic programs across the school right now, I’m a little unsure how they deal with the travel. Obviously, soccer and volleyball plays more conference games than football so they’re back and forth every week, so that’s also been a downside. At the end of the day, they’re still students, these students are missing out on valuable class time.