The disadvantage of Stanford being a kinda OK basketball team is that they're difficult to beat. The advantage is that we have multiple knowledgeable Stanford fans to learn from. . . . I think I'd prefer the win, but nobody asked me!

To answer our questions we turn to Scott from Rule of Tree and C&R from C&R Stanford Women's Basketball Blog. Keep an eye out on C&R for my answers to their significantly less dry questions. Thanks to both for their answers!

1. I don't really think anybody has effectively slowed down the elder Ogwumike, but if if can be done, how would a team go about doing so?

C&R: A: Break her legs? Just kidding. No really, we kid, cuz then we would have to hunt you down and return the favor. Okay, real answer, and not that we are totally biased or anything, but Nneka is an unstoppable force! LOL. She has always been good around the basket, with an incredible vertical leap. This year she has gone out and got a soft-touch shot from about 15 feet or so. She has so many ways to score it’s not funny. She can drive to the basket, hit a pull up jumper, break your ankles with a move or just jump over your head. (She can grab a rebound and put it back up without touching the ground! Oh, and she can catch and shoot an alley-oop pass without touching the ground, too. Not very many women’s players can do that). C and R’s recommendation to stop her? Go out and kidnap Britteny Griner.

Scott: I like C&R's suggestion to kidnap Brittney Griner. Another option would be to run the triangle-and-two, keeping two players on Ogwumike at all times, as the Loyola (Md.) men's team did against Stephen Curry a few years ago. Head coach Jimmy Patsos' strategy was highly effective at stopping Curry -- he went scoreless -- but the Greyhounds still lost by 30. It would be fun to watch. There isn't a good way to slow down Ogwumike without getting burned by someone else. I'd suggest trying to get her in foul trouble, but even that doesn't work. She played only 23 minutes against Connecticut, but still finished with 22 points. Wish I could be of more help. Not really.

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We are right in the thick of recruiting season and what is recruiting season if not Kabuki theatre. Today, we have an opportunity to watch more theatre live when D.J. Foster out of Scottsdale makees his selection. If you don't know a lot about Foster, check this out:

Anyway, we're here to appreciate the incredible season of senior running back D.J. Foster. Does anyone truly realize just what kind of year Foster is having?

He's rushed for 2,391 yards on 158 carries. That's an average of 15.1 yards per carry and 239.1 yards per game. In last week's playoff victory over Peoria Sunrise Mountain, Foster scored 10 touchdowns - seven rushing and three receiving - and ran for 508 yards, crushing the previous single-game record of 477 yards, set by Elfrida Valley Union's Ozzie Anaya in 1985.

To put that into perspective, the Cardinals' Beanie Wells has rushed for 526 yards - and Arizona is halfway through its season.

Foster has 51 touchdowns, tieing the single-season record set by Tucson Sabino's Nathan Wize in 1997. Unless he misses the team bus, he'll shatter the record Thursday against Queen Creek in the Division III quarterfinals.

Simply put, we're watching one of the greatest single seasons in Arizona high-school history.

Cal has had a string of great running backs and Foster could be great repping the b+g. Apparently, he is so athletic, he could play any number of positions, including corner. Of course, that is dependent on whether he actually comes to Cal. He has apparently narrowed his schools down to Cal, Arizona State, and USC. Word on the street is that USC is unlikely, but the hometown Sun Devils loom large here. His selection is being webcast via FoxSportsNet Arizona.

This appears to be a direct link to the webcast itself.

After the jump, check out some highlight film. Consider this an open thread to discuss the Foster webcast and all things Cal recruiting. GO BEARS!

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Kodiak: Statistically, the Cal defense ranked first in the Pac-12 and in the top 25 nationally. But did we really perform that way? What went right? What went wrong? We were worried about replacing Cam Jordan, MikeyMo, and Chris Conte; were our fears answered or justified? Going into his 2nd year, Coach Pendergast was supposed to be more comfortable with the college game, and his players should be more familiar with his system. Did the schemes, adjustments, and on the field performance reflect an improvement over last year?

HydroTech: I think our defense is actually better than it often appeared. The problem throughout many of our losses where the defense didn't look good, was also that our offense was horrible. When a team's offense sucks, it puts a lot more responsibility on the defense to keep the opposing team from scoring, and keeping the game manageable. For example, the Oregon game was a great defensive performance for one half of the game. If the Cal offense had managed to stay on the field longer and score some points, I think our defense wouldn't have become so overrun in the second half. Same goes with the USC game. If our offense doesn't turn the ball over five times and stays out on the field longer, and scores some points, the defense will be more rested and wouldn't have had so many short fields to defend. And then the UCLA game. That game was a rare occurrence of both the offense and defense being pretty inept. Although, if the offense was actually competent that day, then I think they might have bailed out the defense for once -- instead of the defense always bailing out the offense.

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Usually don't do these, but I know there's extreme interest in both these guys round-the-clock, and we have some final developments. Thanks to Joe Davidson of the Sacramento Bee for chronicling all of this.

I have no idea what's going to happen. They could both go to the same school. They could go to Cal. One of them might go to Cal. Both of them might not go to Cal. Washington could send Don James and Billy Joe Hobert this weekend to start building a personal bowling alley for each of them. All I know is it has to be harder on these guys than it is on any of us, and we should respect their decision regardless of where they go.

But they (and we) should know soon. Thankfully.

Snippets of each articles after the jump. Also, Sark skirting away from secondary violations the same way he's skirted away from seal-stomping atrocities.

Update: Possibly apocryphal. We shall see.

Keystone to Thompson, Treggs, source says, could very well be Dalis Bruce. #Cal

— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) January 27, 2012

Source for previous tweet VERY close to the situation.

— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) January 27, 2012

St. John Bosco (Calif.) ATH Dalis Bruce will pick between #Cal and #UCLA Friday as a preferred walk on. Why is this significant?

— Greg Biggins (@GregBiggins) January 27, 2012

Bruce is VERY close friends with WR Bryce Treggs. Could Dalis' decision give a clue to what Bryce does? Food for thought

— Greg Biggins (@GregBiggins) January 27, 2012

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We're nothing if not democratic over here. Since we rolled out the #CalGang T-Shirts earlier this month, people have been brainstorming further ideas for shirts. The #CalGang shirts have been so popular that even Coach Tedford's son, Quinn Tedford, was seen rocking one. Now, we have a few more options available at the store.

Firstly, we've added a woman's slimfit T-Shirt option. All of our #CalGang designs are now available in woman's slimfit T-Shirt, including the new designs being unveiled right now!

Secondly, as the last sentence alluded to, we've added some new designs. One of our favorite Cal sporting teams (and it is SO hard to pick a favorite!) is the Cal softball team. They had a great season last year and are looking to have another great season in 2012. So, we put together a #CalGang design for the Cal softball team.

You can see all the pieces of clothing available with the Cal Softball design here. There are a variety of both men's and women's items, including a track jacket, spaghetti strap tank, and even a junior's shirt.

We've also been impressed with the sheer awesomeness of Cal footballer Avery Sebastian. Not only is his name two really awesome first names, it is also two really awesome last names. Tough to beat that. He has a great line "We All We Got. We All We Need." And he was kind enough to allow us to fashion a design with that line.

Thanks, Avery! You can purchase this in men's t-shirt, women's t-shirt, muscle t, or the women's slimfit (as noted above). You can sort all the products in the clothing store by category by using the drop down menus right above the clothing items.

After the jump, we have a few more designs that can be purchased. And we're always soliciting suggestions. So, continue to tell us your thoughts and if they are cool enough, you might see them on the body of a slim and fit woman!

As a reminder, we do not make any commission off of the sales here. We set the commission at $0.00 to keep the cost to you as inexpensive as possible. So, when you think insane markup, you don't have to think CGB anymore! Thanks and GO BEARS!

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At this week's Senior Bowl practices Marvin Jones has caught the attention of scouts. After Jones has consistently turned in some of the best performances among receivers, some wonder if he'll move up to secure a spot as a second-day pick.

Marvin Jones, California: Jones had arguably the best day of the North squad receivers. Primarily used as a short and intermediate perimeter receiver during his senior year, Jones got to work vertical routes in practice and he shined. He consistently flashed a strong burst to separate from off-man coverage and then exhibited another gear to pull away as the ball arrived.

Jones blew past Iowa State cornerback Leonard Johnson on a deep post in one-on-one drills. Later in shells, he caught a deep post for a touchdown where he made an excellent move late in the route by reducing the shoulder – dipping it away from contact of the DB – and slipping ahead of his opponent to make an over-the-shoulder catch. He kept both feet inside the end line and maintained possession of the ball as he was dragged down from behind. He later caught a seam route in tight coverage on a strong throw from Russell Wilson, snaring the ball over his shoulder after getting on top of the defender early.

Jones’s vertical skills might serve as a revelation to some evaluators who have only watched him in recent years as Cal’s bailout option. That recent role in Jeff Tedford’s West Coast offense has served him well because he has become a physical receiver for his size. He plays big for his 6-2 frame and he also showed that today when he ran a hook route and collided at the top of his break with the defensive back, but managed to make a diving rebound of a pass he tipped after the initial collision.

Jones’s routes are smooth and he isn’t shy about eating a defender’s cushion by driving close until the top of his break. Many receivers in this practice made the mistake of breaking a little sooner on routes than they should have and didn’t get the depth on routes that Jones has obviously learned in Tedford’s pro style offense. If he had attacked the ball from his break just a little more aggressively on hook routes, he would have had a flawless day.

After the jump ESPN checks in on the latest Pac-12 recruiting news and Mitchell Schwartz manages to impress scouts while playing center at the Senior Bowl.

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When I preview Cal vs. Stanford in women's basketball it inevitably turns into a narrative in which I try to convince myself that Cal has a good chance at winning despite the fact that Stanford as a constant top 5 team that has a six game winning streak over the Bears.

The problem is that there's no magic formula. Stanford doesn't have a hidden weakness, some Achilles heel to exploit (unless, you know, they all hurt their Achilles heel before the game). They shoot well, they defend well, they dominate the glass, they don't foul. You get the idea. Except, maybe there's a tiny chink in the armor . . .

Stanford relies heavily on Nnemkadi Ogwumike. If you were forced to pick one player to rely on heavily you'd pick her immediately because she's the best player in the country. She's top 10 in rebounding, top 10 in scoring, and top 15 in field goal percentage. But when you rely so heavily on any one player there's always the risk: what happens if that one player has an off-game?

There have been exactly three games this year in which Stanford hasn't dominated. A 10 point loss to UConn, an 8 point win over USC and a 7 point win over Oregon State. The common denominator in those three games is a sub-par effort from Nneka. Against UConn she was actually pretty good (especially considering the opponent) but she was in foul trouble and played only 23 minutes. Against USC she only shot 6-16 from the floor and turned the ball over 5 times. And against Oregon St. she went just 11-29 from the field.

That Oregon St. game has a bizarre box score. It's weird to say that a player that finished with 33 points had a sub-par game, but Nneka had to take 29 shots to get to 33 and only shot 38% from the field, well below her usual average of 60%. She got no offensive help from her Stanford teammates with the exception of her sister Chiney - they combined for 80% of Stanford's points.

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