Golden Nuggets: Final Exams for Men's Basketball

Last week you guys did a great job in boosting the number of votes in royrules22's incredibly easy-to-use top-25 poll.  Keep up the good work and vote again in this week's poll.

Farudo looks at the next four games in men's basketball's schedule, possibly the toughest stretch of the entire season, especially when you factor injuries into things.  Should Cal win all four, Farudo anticipates a parade down Telegraph Ave.  Realistically, he expects two or three wins.

   – at New Mexico, Wednesday: The Lobos are 6-0 and are extremely difficult to beat at The Pit in Albuquerque. They’ve won their four home games this season by an average margin of 20.3 ppg and were 16-2 on their own floor a year ago.

   — vs. Iowa State, Saturday: The Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series matchup in Berkeley against the Cyclones features 6-foot-10 forward Craig Brackins, projected as the No. 15 pick in the 2010 draft by NBAdraft.net. Iowa State is 6-1.

   – at Pacific, Wednesday, Dec. 9: The game is being billed by UOP as the "Stockton Showcase" and will be played at the city’s new downtown Stockton Arena, which seats 10,500. The Tigers are 4-1, and will be motivated to score just their third win over Cal in a series that dates back to the 1908-09 season.

   – At Kansas, Tuesday, Dec. 22: The Jayhawks are 5-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation. The feature All-Americans Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins, along with Xavier Henry, a 6-foot-6 freshman guard who is outscoring both of them.

Do the math: the Bears’ next four opponents are a combined 21-2, and Cal must play three of them on the road. The roster’s health status will be a critical factor.

After the jump we have last night's practice report, an update on Best, a look at how Justin Forsett and Frank Cignetti are doing, some interesting movement in the men's basketball top-25 polls and more.

Cal Football

• Cal remains at third in Ted Miller's Pac-10 power rankings, behind Oregon and OSU.  Could Cal move up to second with a win this weekend?
• JO believes Best will not play this weekend.  Tedford says he and Best "haven't even talked about" his return.  Tedford believes Syd will return to practice this week and play this weekend against Washington.
• Justin Forsett had the best game of his promising career yesterday with 130 yards and two TDs on 22 carries.  He is really shining as a replacement for the injured Julius Jones.
• Cignetti talks a bit about his decision to leave for Pittsburgh as well as his place within the Cal program last year.  While he had primary control over the offense, Tedford had input.  In fact, many of the trick plays, such as the hook and lateral in the Big Game, were called by Tedford.  Cignetti estimates that Tedford would call three or four plays per game.  Cignetti seems to have no regrets about the decision to leave.  He took a pay cut to be closer to his family.