It looks like the ESPN/ABC guys really loved being in Berkeley to kickoff ABC’s Saturday Night College Football season last year.

Don’t remember? Last year’s season opener for Cal against Tennessee was ABC’s first prime time game of the year. Guess what, they’ll be back.

ESPN/ABC announced it’s preliminary lineup for the fall and Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Lisa Salters will all be back at Memorial Stadium on August 30 when the Bears open the 2008 season against Michigan State, leading-off ABC’s Saturday Night College Football. (Click here to read more…)

It’s always interested me that Cal hasn’t had a traditional Spring Game to close out its spring practices in least the four years that I’ve been in Berkeley. Maybe it’s because coach Jeff Tedford doesn’t believe in all the hoopla that surrounds a Spring Game.

Last Saturday was no different.

But what Saturday did give to the Bears was closure on what can be seen as a spring of getting over the past.

A few more notes from Cal’s final spring practice. (Click here to read more…)

It’s been sometime since I or anyone else at the Daily Cal has paid attention to the NFL Draft. But with just a few days before now and one of the most over-hyped weekends of the sporting calendar, it’s kind of hard to stay away from it.

It’s also been somewhat surprising to see what the so-called pundits have been saying about former Cal receiver DeSean Jackson. What’s prompted all of this is what Stewart Mandel wrote today on SI.com. (Click here to read more…)

It’s been just a little over three weeks since the Cal women’s hoops team lost in a heart-breaker to GW in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

It was just last week when Tennessee took home its second consecutive national title. But these critics like to start early, as ESPN and SI.com have announced their pre-, pre-, pre-, pre-season rankings for the 2008-09 season.

And where is Cal? ESPN has the Bears at No. 7 heading into next year and Sports Illustrated has Cal at No. 6. (Click here to read more…)

I’m sure there was a bit of concern when Trent Johnson accepted the job down at LSU. Why, you ask? Well, because new Cal head coach Mike Montgomery did spend 18 years at Stanford, winning them conference titles and getting them to a Final Four.

So when the current Cardinal coach bolts, I’m sure there has to be some anxiety amongst the Bears community that Monty will renege on his contract with Cal.

And because Montgomery knows that the rumor mill will be working full force after the Johnson announcement, the savvy veteran felt compelled to release a statement through the Bears athletics department. (Click here to read more…)

I can see it now: Cal football nation is ready to throw a fit because everyone’s favorite quarterback has sat out two practices this week with a pulled pectoral muscle.

Nate Longshore suffered the injury last Wednesday, felt uncomfortable last Friday and still participated in the Bears’ first workout in full pads last Saturday, according to Bear Talk.

This may be the time for Cal fans to start calling for backup Kevin Riley’s name (like they haven’t already).

But a few things about the quarterback situation first. (Click here to read more…)

Jahvid Best made his sort-of-return to the Cal football team in its first day of spring ball Monday.

That’s pretty good news for a program that just lost what was supposed to be their No. 1 tailback heading into the spring. Best won’t be involved in anything where he can get hit, but he will be participating in individual drills and he’ll be working on his own every now and then.

And Best may be the Bears most prolific weapon next fall after the departure of not just dynamo DeSean Jackson, but receivers Robert Jordan and Lavelle Hawkins and tailback Justin Forsett. Let’s just say that on a team with little star power, Best as the best shot of shining next year.

More tidbits from Cal’s first practice: (Click here to read more…)

Relief and excitement. Those have to be the two words that surround the Cal men’s basketball team after the big news today.

Ben Braun will no longer walk up and down hardwood at Haas Pavilion, getting axed after 12 years as being the head coach of the Bears.

This is what Athletic Director Sandy Barbour said in a statement today:

“This was an extremely difficult decision that was undertaken with great care and diligence. However, in the final analysis, I have determined that it is time for Cal to seek new leadership in our men’s basketball program. Competing for conference championships and a place in the NCAA Tournament are goals and expectations that are embraced at Cal. Unfortunately, we have not been able to consistently meet those expectations in our men’s basketball program.”

One Sweet 16 appearance, no Pac-10 titles, only five invites to the Big Dance in 12 years of service will get you canned. (Click here to read more…)

For the first time in about 15 years, the Cal women’s hoops team finds itself in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

But the Bears’ next opponent may give them fits, so much so that ESPN predicts a nice little second-round upset when sixth-seeded George Washington plays Cal tonight at Maples Pavilion.

We’ll see if that happens, but for now, the Bears can relish finally winning a first round game. Some keys for tonight’s game: (Click here to read more…)

The NCAA Tournament hasn’t been too fruitful for the Cal women’s hoops team.

The Bears haven’t won a Tournament game in about 15 years. Granted, Cal hasn’t been dancing all 15 years, but its has been to the Tourney each of the last two years and has gone one-and-done.

But it looks like this year may be the year that the Bears finally get out of the first round. With a No. 3 seed in its pocket and traveling down to a familiar (yet unfriendly place) in Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Cal has to be thinking this is the year.

The Bears have only one Tourney win in their history and it might be two after they play No. 14-seed San Diego. But of course, after watching the Toreros men take down power UConn yesterday in the men’s Tournament, the women’s side has got to be thinking that it can also pull off the upset.

Some keys: (Click here to read more…)