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Cal's Sonny Dykes focused on getting Bears back to Rose Bowl

New coach in Berkeley has his eyes set on taking Cal to its first Rose Bowl in more than 50 years.

Bradley Leeb-US PRESSWIRE

Cal has not played in a Rose Bowl since 1959. Sonny Dykes intends on changing that.

"There's nothing like being part of a championship team," the Golden Bears' new football coach said in his introductory news conference.

And winning championships at Cal, at least Pac-12 championships, means a trip to Pasadena for the Granddaddy of Them All. It might as well be another galaxy away with how long it has been since Cal played in the Rose Bowl, but the hope in Berkeley is that Dykes can be the man who gets them back there.

Dykes comes to Cal from Louisiana Tech, where he showed up as one of the brightest offensive minds in the country and left as a head coach with experience and a reputation for winning, albeit in a short amount of time. And he showed he could win championships at Louisiana Tech, too, winning the WAC in 2011, a feat that earned him conference Coach of the Year honors.

Now Dykes hopes to do in the Pac-12 what he did in the WAC -- win the conference. Do it and the Rose Bowl is waiting.