No respect for the Pac-10. No respect, I tells ya. Cal is still the only Pac-10 team projected to attend the big dance.
Cal remains the lone Pac-10 team projected into the NCAA Tournament field, according to two prominent online sources.
ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi, in his weekly “Bracketology” projections, gives the Bears a No. 8 seed and matches them against Cornell of the Ivy League in a first-round game at Providence, R.I. The winner likely would face top-seeded Villanova, which is projected to play Stony Brook.
Jerry Palm’s bracket on CollegeRPI.com has Cal at No. 12, matched against No. 5 Baylor in a first-round game at Spokane, Wash. The winner of that game would meet the Gonzaga-Siena winner in front of a partisan Gonzaga crowd.
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COMPUTER RATINGS: Cal’s 76-72 loss Sunday at Arizona cost them about five spots in the RPI computer, where Monday morning the Bears were rated No. 24, according to CollegeRPI.com. The rest of the Pac-10: 53. Arizona; 64. UW; 87. ASU; 89. USC; 100. WSU; 126. UCLA; 139. Stanford; 140. Oregon; 202. OSU.
Cal’s non-conference opponents continue to fare well in the RPI, with Kansas and Syracuse now 1-2, New Mexico 12th and Ohio State 33rd. The problem the Bears face, of course, is that the highest-rated team they have beaten is No. 87 ASU, although they also own wins over four other top-100 teams, including No. 92 Murray State and No. 95 Pacific.
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In the Sagarin computer, Cal checks in at No. 31. The rest of the Pac-10: 59. ASU; 63. UW; 74. Arizona; 78. USC; 96. WSU; 110. Oregon; 111. Stanford; 120. UCLA; 166. OSU.
TOP-25 POLLS: No surprise, but no Pac-10 teams appear in either the AP Top-25 of the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. No Pac-10 school even got a vote in the AP poll, while Cal drew two votes from the coaches. Here’s a link to both polls.
After the jump Cal is in the running for three very impressive recruits, Aaron Rodgers and DeSean make us ponder what could have been in 2005, rugby gives Stanford 99 problems, and more.
Cal Football
- JO reports that Gabe King will commit to Cal. King won't officially announce until Wednesday.
- Chris Martin says this weekend's visits by Keenan Allen and Zach Maynard went well. Although Martin has already made his official visit, he came out to join his friend and half-brother, respectively. Martin didn't press Allen to reveal who he is leaning toward, and we will find out Wednesday morning whether he chooses Cal, Bama, or Clemson.
- Aaron Rodgers and DeSean Jackson had two TDs each in yesterday's Pro Bowl.
- Rugby hammered Stanford 99-0 en route to another Scrum Axe win. Cal has now outscored its opponents 681-9 this season.
- Track and field set/tied three school record at this weekend's UW Invitational.
- No. 4 women's water polo kicked off the season this weekend and went 5-0 against UCSB, Santa Clara, UC Davis, Sonoma State, and CSU Monterey Bay.
- No. 7 men's gymnastics lost its meet against no. 2 Stanford 337.950-238.300, but took home the team win on pommel horse and notched individual wins in high bar and parallel bar.
- Men's tennis fell 4-0 to no. 8 Texas. No. 3 women's tennis defeated Sac State 6-1 in the final match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend event. On Friday they shut out Utah 7-0.
- No. 5 women's swimming and diving won 13 of 16 events en route to a 167-128 win over UCLA.