(Written by kencraw)

One of the benefits about late season games is there are often many common opponents to judge. Here’s the Colorado line-up:

Oregon: Cal lost 55-16, Colorado lost 57-16 (odd to share 16 points…)
UCLA: Cal lost 37-10, Colorado lost 45-23
Oregon State: Cal lost 49-17, Colorado lost 44-17 (another common score)
Washington: Cal lost 41-17, Colorado lost 59-7
Arizona: Cal lost 33-28, Colorado lost 44-20

Note, every game had the same home vs. away status except Oregon and Oregon State where they were swapped (Cal played @ Oregon and OSU at home and Colorado played @OSU and Oregon at home).

Overall, the two teams played equivalently in 3 (Oregon, Oregon State and UCLA), Cal had a less horrible blowout vs. Washington (not something to hang one’s hat on) and Cal played Arizona much closer. Slight edge to Cal.

How about based on points:
Cal: 215 against, 88 for
Colorado: 249 against, 83 for
Edge for Cal

Overall conclusion, Cal looks to have a SLIGHT edge in common opponents, but not a whole lot. Definitely not enough to inherently out-weigh the advantage Colorado has playing at home at 5000 feet.