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…)

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…)

I hope everybody is enjoying March Madness, the best time of year. Pac-10 teams have performed predictably, with the exception of USC which thoroughly disappointed me and pretty much busted the midwest region of my bracket. Oregon and Arizona never looked impressive in conference play, so there was no reason to expect them to survive even the first round of Tourney play. Washington State, on the other hand, is looking dominant, and how about Brook Lopez’s clutch baseline fadeaway that gave Stanford the win in overtime? I wouldn’t mind seeing either of those teams go deep into the Tournament.

But UCLA. That’s a different story. I couldn’t care less if a Bruins loss anytime before the national title game would bust my bracket. After seeing this for the third time this season, I would love to see UCLA finally fall flat on its face.

Simply ridiculous.

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…)

Yesterday opening game in the NIT was exciting for Cal. Real exciting. It was a nail-bitter. A Thriller. It came down to the wire. It was almost a barn-burner.

But of course I’m being condescending. When less than 2,000 fans show up for a major college basketball game, then why should I be excited? I wasn’t.

The real madness begins today. (Click here to read more…)

See that question up there? The title of this blog post? I’m going to say no. Especially not after the No. 10 Cal women’s basketball team lost to Washington on Sunday.

But still, as the Bears prepare for the Pac-10 Tournament down in San Jose, the general feeling that the team has—or at least coach Joanne Boyle has—is that Cal can still snag a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament.

“Win the tournament and get a two-seed,” said Boyle when asked what would be the ideal situation for the Bears at this weekend’s Pac-10 tournament.

But even if Cal can win three games in a row, upset No. 7 Stanford and take the conference tournament crown, can it get a two seed? It’s a long shot at best. (Click here to read more…)

The No. 9 Cal women’s basketball team has for the entire year tried to gain respect. I’m not doubting that the Bears deserve it. They do.

But Sunday’s loss to Washington highlights the reason why this team isn’t ready to take the Pac-10’s top spot from Stanford or to enter the national scene.

All the Bears had to do was beat a team that they had defeated by 26 points a month earlier to secure their first ever Pac-10 title. But they couldn’t even do that. (Click here to read more…)

During a preseason media luncheon, coach Joanne Boyle mentioned landing a No. 2 or 3 seed in the Big Dance as one of Cal’s main goals for the 2007-2008 season.

It looks like the team is set to meet at least a portion of its rumored “oath.”

After beginning the season ranked No. 13 in the country, the Bears have climbed all the way to No. 9 in going from a potential to a likely three-seed. But Cal, “Can you take me higher?” The Bears were ranked No. 8 (AP) as recently as last week, and after dropping a heated contest to No. 7 Stanford, what are the chances that Cal might sneak in as a two?

Very slim. (Click here to read more…)