Golden Nuggets: Sandy Barbour Addresses Various Questions/Concerns

At Wednesday's Tiny Bates Award banquet Sandy Barbour addressed some questions from the crowd.  Here are some tidbits of information JO obtained.  Also, check out the transcript from yesterday's live chat with SB.  She addresses issues such as basketball attendance, Pac-10 expansion, the Memorial Stadium upgrade, the Witter Field situation, and more

• She said the school is still considering bids from the Oakland Coliseum, Candlestick Park and AT&T  Park to host home games in 2011 while Memorial Stadium is being renovated. Meetings should be wrapped up by next week so a decision could be made soon. A few concerns are the smaller capacity of AT&T Park and the fact that both the A’s and Raiders call the Coliseum home, which could cause scheduling headaches.
• On possible Pac-10 expansion, Barbour said: "It’s a wise thing for us to look at. Is there some number of other schools that will bring value to our conference? Are there schools that are fits for our conference that would bring more value in then they would take away by having to divvy up the pie by 12 or 14 instead of 10? That is what the decision will be made on. We’re going to look at it. We’d be stupid not to. But we’re not going to expand just to expand."
• Barbour said the season-opener against UC Davis came about after she discussed it with UCD athletic director Greg Warzecka, a Cal graduate and former Cal assistant baseball coach. Warzecka told Barbour that they are going to be paying someone to come to Memorial Stadium, they might as well keep that money in the state. Barbour said "You know what? You’re absolutely right. Let’s do it."
• Barbour said Cal and Stanford will continue to try to make the Big Game the final game of the year but every few years or so it’s not possible because the weekend falls during Stanford final exams.
• Barbour said she does not favor a playoff system in college football. "I don’t think a playoff solves anything," she said. "I think it prolongs the season, which I don’t think is in the best interest of the student-athletes. I think the bowl system is special. I think it’s unique in college athletics."

After the jump we take a look at Cal's new D coordinator, Ted Miller looks for three things to watch during spring practice, Kiper talks about Cal's draft prospects, baseball looks ahead to the start of the season, and men's bball loses its third of last four games against OSU while the women won their eighth straight against the Beavs.

Cal Football

• In his spring practice preview, Ted Miller says Cal's developments to watch are QB play, the new defense, and the competition for backup RB.
• Cal officially announces the arrival of new DC Clancy Pendergast.  He says the three keys to his defense are to be "smart, tough, and aggressive."  ProFootballCentral talks about the pros and cons of Clancy Pendergast defense.  So far, it's the most in-depth look at his defense I could find, but it's no HydroTech post.  Keep in mind, the link is from the 2008 preseason.
• ESPN's draft guru Mel Kiper talks about Cal's NFL prospects.  On the eve of the combine Kiper thinks Best and Alualu will go in the second round, with Syd going between the fifth and seventh rounds.  He has liked Alualu all year, but cites concerns about Best's recovery and Syd's size.

Cal Basketball

• Nothing went right for the Bears in their loss to OSU.  Monty blames turnovers, poor rebounding, and bad defense for OSU's easy win.  Theo said it's tough to be confident against a defensive scheme that Cal still hasn't figured out.
• Faraudo goes over some interesting number from that ugly loss.
• Although the men's team has lost three of its last four to OSU, the Cal women beat OSU for the eighth straight time with a 66-62 win.
• Wilner speculates that the Pac-10 may not get an at-large birth for the first time since the 64-team NCAA tourney was introduced.