Golden Nuggets: Are the Bears Back on the NCAA Bubble After Upsetting Oregon and Arizona?

Dan Greenspan provides his thoughts on the Bears' upset win in Tuscon. His final thought is most intriguing: are the Bears back among the bubble teams?

Back On The Bubble?

After upsetting top-10 opponents each of the last two weekends, is it time to start treating Cal as if it is in contention for one of the 37 at-large bids to the NCAA tournament?

Short answer? Ask again Thursday.

Downing UCLA at Haas Pavilion would certainly put it back on the table as a realistic option. The lack of a signature non-conference victory is troubling, as is the brutal home loss to Harvard, but wins over the top three teams in the Pac-12 would go a long way toward mitigating that part of Cal’s resume.

The Bears have plenty of work to do, but Sunday’s result keeps it in play, for a few more days at least.

If the Bears earn a sweep this weekend, is it too soon to start thinking about challenging for the Pac-12 title?

Basketball

• After several consecutive victories anchored by defense, the women's team defeated Arizona in a 91-86 shootout.
• Coach Gottlieb was pleased with her team's offense but expressed concern about defense and excessive fouls.
• The men's team notched its second top-10 upset in an 8-day span with a 77-69 win over no. 7 Arizona.
• Arizona head coach Sean Miller said this was the best anyone had performed against the Wildcat defense. On the other end of the floor, the Bears' zone defense stifled Arizona during the second half.
• Monty was pleased with the zone's ability to keep the Bears out of foul trouble while shutting down Arizona's inside game.
• Allen Crabbe's 31 points at Arizona helped earn him the Pac-12 Player of the Week award.

Tennis

• The Bears wrapped up play at the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship with a 4-1 loss to no. 4 USC.

Golf

• Cal alum James Hahn finished tied for third at the 2013 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. This was Hahn's best finish of his rookie year at the PGA Tour.

Softball

• Cal topped Indiana 9-1 to bring its record back to .500.

Baseball

• Approximately 300 fans enjoyed the annual Fan Fest on Sunday.