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Avinash: 2nd in the Pac-12 and 22-23 wins. I like our veteran leadership, and our defense will keep us in most games, but I am concerned about the nights our players miss their jump shots and free throws. Teams will pack the paint with zone and let us bomb away. Also our big men are prone to foul trouble.
A.W. Johnston: I think we won't be as dominate as predicted with a couple of silly losses mixed in with a few impressive wins. I see us getting hot late and making a good run come tournament time. 2nd or 3rd in the Pac-12 and 20-21 wins.
boomtho: I just went through and counted on our schedule, and also ended up at about 21 or 22 wins. As far as our early record, I'm guessing (very wildly) we'll lose to SDSU, West Virginia/Richmond (likely the former), Virginia, and one more unexpected game. That would put us at 10-4 headed into conference play.
Ruey Yen: While Arizona is expected to be good, I would like to think that our Golden Bears are the favorite to win the Pac this year. Win the Pac and advance to at least the Sweet 16 or bust is my motto/expectation/hope for Cal Men's Basketball in 2015-16.
Nick Kranz: Non-conference: Cal will be favored in every non-con game, with the possible exceptions of:
1. Virginia
2. San Diego State
3. West Virginia/Richmond
It would be safe to assume a loss to Virginia and a split in Las Vegas. It's dangerous to assume that Cal sweeps every other team in the non-con (Wyoming and Davidson are dangerous, at the least) but Cal is as likely to pick up an extra win vs. Virginia/SDSU/WVU/Richmond as they are to drop an unexpected game. I'll put the over/under at 10.5 wins/2.5 losses.
As for conference play: If this team is as good as we want it to be, and if they round into form during the 2nd half of the season, then a 12-6 conference record is a pretty conservative prediction. Winning the conference would likely take more - the average Pac winner goes 14-4 or 15-3. I will note that Cal won't see the Washington schools at home or the L.A. schools on the road. UCLA should be decent, but USC, UW and WSU are likely to be mediocre at best. Good for Cal's strength of schedule and computer numbers, bad for winning the conference.Put me down for 23 regular season wins.