Cal Basketball Bracketology Update! Bears a 5 seed, as high as 4 in a few brackets

Well that sure escalated quickly. After an incredible finish to their home season, the Bears have soared up most brackets into a very secure six seed position. Keep in mind that most brackets haven't factored in the win against USC yet and the Bears have a legitimate shot to be a four seed come selection Sunday. A few old blues have astutely pointed out that five seeds are notorious for losing to 12's and I agree with that sentiment. With the way this season has played out in college basketball, it's not that hard to imagine all 12 seed's winning in the first round this year.

Which Brackets are projecting the Bears as high as a four? Glad you asked! None of the so called bracket experts have the Bears that high, however the best damn bracket period has the Bears facing Valpo first round in the 4 vs 13 matchup. If you want an exhaustive list of the rankings for the Bears (some haven't updated after Sunday's win however), definitely peruse the Bracket Project and their resources. Currently the Bears stand at 5.97 average seeding and once the USC win is 100% accounted for, I imagine that figure will come down to the mid 5 range.

A few hypotheticals:

Let's pose a few hypotheticals and see where the Bears might end up next week. If the Bears close the season with a loss at Arizona and a win at Arizona State, their position will stay relatively unchanged into next week. If the Bears happen to go 0-2, you could see Cal slip back to the 7 position and that is our worst case scenario prior to the Pac-12 tournament. As for our best case scenario, the Bears roll into Arizona with a head of steam and catch the Wildcats off guard. If they can close out the season with another two victories the Bears could not only win the Pac-12 regular season title, but shoot up to a strong four or even a three seed. Aren't hypotheticals fun?

The Pac-12 tournament is looming and Cuonzo should have his team fired up about securing a first round bye in Vegas. Our last trip to sin city fell flat and Cal should be looking for any advantage they can get the second time around. The biggest game is Thursday against Arizona which has regular season title implications.

Cal fans, what do you think is the most likely scenario for the Bears this week? Given how well this team is playing of late, where do you see them seeded in the tournament?