Don't look now but many bracketology sites have us near the bubble... this is awesome!!!
Tourney Aspirations Rising...
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Last: 3 mo ago by calumnus
Wait until we beat Dominican!
eastcoastcal said:
Don't look now but many bracketology sites have us near the bubble... this is awesome!!!
Absolutely. Obviously we need to finish out the OOC on a high note and get some conference wins under our belt, but having hope is fun.
Next is getting the message out and filling Haas. We should definitely be letting Bay Area students in free with student ID (up to 90% of unsold tickets, say) until we start selling out. Create some excitement.
I was at the UOP game... I think it was my third game this season. As far as attendance, we seem to be doing a slow build. Emphasis on "slow", but definitely a build.
Early yet...
It's so early. Went back to see how all of the teams we've beaten are doing, and...yikes. UCLA is the only decent team we've beaten thus far. That was a very good win and they have some quality wins, but every other win we've notched is against teams which are severely struggling. We have to start 12-1. That's step 1. Then we have to beat either Louisville, Duke or UNC. At least one win there, and we're for real.
I'm still in shock that we're even having this discussion.
The challenge is that we get the toughest ACC teams at home (Lville, Duke, UNC) and travel to mid or lower level conference foes except for UVA. If it was the other way around we would likely have more wins overall. We really have to get at least one home upset and take care of business on the road.
Honestly, I'm just thrilled we're back in a place where we can even dream about being on the bubble this far into non-con play. It's been way too long since the program has been here.
Before the season, I would have counted a winning record and an NIT appearance as a success. That alone would show tangible year-over-year progress for Madsen to point to.
A tourney appearance (and the retention of a solid core going into next season along with the very good HS class we look primed to get) would be beyond exciting.
Before the season, I would have counted a winning record and an NIT appearance as a success. That alone would show tangible year-over-year progress for Madsen to point to.
A tourney appearance (and the retention of a solid core going into next season along with the very good HS class we look primed to get) would be beyond exciting.
ManBearLion123 said:
Honestly, I'm just thrilled we're back in a place where we can even dream about being on the bubble this far into non-con play. It's been way too long since the program has been here.
Before the season, I would have counted a winning record and an NIT appearance as a success. That alone would show tangible year-over-year progress for Madsen to point to.
A tourney appearance (and the retention of a solid core going into next season along with the very good HS class we look primed to get) would be beyond exciting.
Better rethink all that. We're losing to Division 2 Dominican at the half. Are we about to repeat the SDSU debacle in football?
Golden One said:ManBearLion123 said:
Honestly, I'm just thrilled we're back in a place where we can even dream about being on the bubble this far into non-con play. It's been way too long since the program has been here.
Before the season, I would have counted a winning record and an NIT appearance as a success. That alone would show tangible year-over-year progress for Madsen to point to.
A tourney appearance (and the retention of a solid core going into next season along with the very good HS class we look primed to get) would be beyond exciting.
Better rethink all that. We're losing to Division 2 Dominican at the half. Are we about to repeat the SDSU debacle in football?
We are not.
We're better than we were last year. Heck, we're better that we've been the past eight years.
Need to get better still. It's a process.
75bear said:Golden One said:ManBearLion123 said:
Honestly, I'm just thrilled we're back in a place where we can even dream about being on the bubble this far into non-con play. It's been way too long since the program has been here.
Before the season, I would have counted a winning record and an NIT appearance as a success. That alone would show tangible year-over-year progress for Madsen to point to.
A tourney appearance (and the retention of a solid core going into next season along with the very good HS class we look primed to get) would be beyond exciting.
Better rethink all that. We're losing to Division 2 Dominican at the half. Are we about to repeat the SDSU debacle in football?
We are not.
Glad we woke up in the second half. Don't know what Madsen told them at halftime, but he'd better give them that message before the start of the game.
Everyone chill on tourney talk. Outside of UCLA, we haven't played anyone good and luckily got our act together tonight vs. a team no one had ever heard of. K State is literally in last place in the Big 12 (OOC). UCLA will help the resume, but the boys will need to go .500 in the ACC and upset at least one ranked team at home. Catch you on the 30th when they sell out Haas.
Calfan92 said:
Everyone chill on tourney talk. Outside of UCLA, we haven't played anyone good and luckily got our act together tonight vs. a team no one had ever heard of. K State is literally in last place in the Big 12 (OOC). UCLA will help the resume, but the boys will need to go .500 in the ACC and upset at least one ranked team at home. Catch you on the 30th when they sell out Haas.
We will need to do better than .500 in the ACC to make the NCAA Tournament. We need to beat all the teams we are ranked higher than and a few that are ranked higher than us.
calumnus said:Calfan92 said:
Everyone chill on tourney talk. Outside of UCLA, we haven't played anyone good and luckily got our act together tonight vs. a team no one had ever heard of. K State is literally in last place in the Big 12 (OOC). UCLA will help the resume, but the boys will need to go .500 in the ACC and upset at least one ranked team at home. Catch you on the 30th when they sell out Haas.
We will need to do better than .500 in the ACC to make the NCAA Tournament. We need to beat all the teams we are ranked higher than and a few that are ranked higher than us.
We have 17 ACC games, a 10-7 with a decent ACC tourney appearance should get us in. 9-8 would be bubble territory and might require a very good ACC tourney showing, though if some of those wins came against top ACC teams, that would be mitigatory. 8-9 or worse and we're out.
This assumes we don't screw up in our last 3 OOC games, which include a competitive Columbia team (NET #81, 2nd in Ivy behind #35 Yale). Hope we get a good crowd for that game two Sundays from now.
bearsandgiants said:
Then we have to beat either Louisville, Duke or UNC. At least one win there, and we're for real.
I think we should look for committee-pleasing "quality wins" elsewhere, these three teams aren't a realistic goal. I'd say getting 21-plus wins, with some of them including Clemson, NC State and/or Miami, and we'll have a real shot.
Going to the NIT and maybe being an Elite Eight team there would also be a huge boost to this program. Go Bears!
Cal88 said:calumnus said:Calfan92 said:
Everyone chill on tourney talk. Outside of UCLA, we haven't played anyone good and luckily got our act together tonight vs. a team no one had ever heard of. K State is literally in last place in the Big 12 (OOC). UCLA will help the resume, but the boys will need to go .500 in the ACC and upset at least one ranked team at home. Catch you on the 30th when they sell out Haas.
We will need to do better than .500 in the ACC to make the NCAA Tournament. We need to beat all the teams we are ranked higher than and a few that are ranked higher than us.
We have 17 ACC games, a 10-7 with a decent ACC tourney appearance should get us in. 9-8 would be bubble territory and might require a very good ACC tourney showing, though if some of those wins came against top ACC teams, that would be mitigatory. 8-9 or worse and we're out.
This assumes we don't screw up in our last 3 OOC games, which include a competitive Columbia team (NET #81, 2nd in Ivy behind #35 Yale). Hope we get a good crowd for that game two Sundays from now.
Don't really disagree, but don't we have 18 (not 17) ACC regular season games? Are you not counting Notre Dame as an ACC game?
1. Louisville
2. Notre Dame
3. @Virginia
4. @Va. Tech
5. Duke
6. UNC
7. @Stanford
8. @FSU
9. @Miami
10. Ga. Tech
11. Clemson
12. @Syracuse
13. @BC
14. Stanford
15. SMU
16. Pitt
17. @Ga. Tech
18. @Wake Forest
barsad said:bearsandgiants said:
Then we have to beat either Louisville, Duke or UNC. At least one win there, and we're for real.
I think we should look for committee-pleasing "quality wins" elsewhere, these three teams aren't a realistic goal. I'd say getting 21-plus wins, with some of them including Clemson, NC State and/or Miami, and we'll have a real shot.
Going to the NIT and maybe being an Elite Eight team there would also be a huge boost to this program. Go Bears!
I think we should just look to get as many games as possible…..
Go Bears!!!!!
OneKeg said:Cal88 said:calumnus said:Calfan92 said:
Everyone chill on tourney talk. Outside of UCLA, we haven't played anyone good and luckily got our act together tonight vs. a team no one had ever heard of. K State is literally in last place in the Big 12 (OOC). UCLA will help the resume, but the boys will need to go .500 in the ACC and upset at least one ranked team at home. Catch you on the 30th when they sell out Haas.
We will need to do better than .500 in the ACC to make the NCAA Tournament. We need to beat all the teams we are ranked higher than and a few that are ranked higher than us.
We have 17 ACC games, a 10-7 with a decent ACC tourney appearance should get us in. 9-8 would be bubble territory and might require a very good ACC tourney showing, though if some of those wins came against top ACC teams, that would be mitigatory. 8-9 or worse and we're out.
This assumes we don't screw up in our last 3 OOC games, which include a competitive Columbia team (NET #81, 2nd in Ivy behind #35 Yale). Hope we get a good crowd for that game two Sundays from now.
Don't really disagree, but don't we have 18 (not 17) ACC regular season games? Are you not counting Notre Dame as an ACC game?
1. Louisville
2. Notre Dame
3. @Virginia
4. @Va. Tech
5. Duke
6. UNC
7. @Stanford
8. @FSU
9. @Miami
10. Ga. Tech
11. Clemson
12. @Syracuse
13. @BC
14. Stanford
15. SMU
16. Pitt
17. @Ga. Tech
18. @Wake Forest
You're right I didn't include the 2nd game against Furd, we play them twice and the rest of the ACC once.
You mean we can't play ourselves!!??
You can - as long as your significant other isn't around
If this team finishes above 500 and gets an NIT bid that is a HUGE accomplishment. Keep recruiting well. Retain Pippen. Ditto Ames. Get out to the portal and get some front line help (huge need). Get NIL around BB addressed.
Love to make the tournie cause I live for that **** but 2 ADs essentially DESTROYED the program after Monty's work. The lack of thinking about how to move on from Martin was a fireable offense. Retaining Jones for as long as Knowleton retained him....a firable offense. Hiring Fox...a fireable offense. We are FINALLY competitive and we can come back from adversity (the weird line up yesterday and being down with 6 to play against a 2-7 team). That doesn't happen even a year or 2 ago.
ACC is strangely top heavy. A win against the Big 3 will be really hard. Not clear how the committee is going to look at the next tier down and I could see everyone beat the **** out of each other and a huge long jam for 4th. That will then create interesting questions for the committee as you will be 0-3 (and maybe 0-4) against the big boys and then have wins against OTHER bubble teams (as well as some losses). I could see us missing on selection sunday and that is OK. We will have come from SUCH deep caca.
Love to make the tournie cause I live for that **** but 2 ADs essentially DESTROYED the program after Monty's work. The lack of thinking about how to move on from Martin was a fireable offense. Retaining Jones for as long as Knowleton retained him....a firable offense. Hiring Fox...a fireable offense. We are FINALLY competitive and we can come back from adversity (the weird line up yesterday and being down with 6 to play against a 2-7 team). That doesn't happen even a year or 2 ago.
ACC is strangely top heavy. A win against the Big 3 will be really hard. Not clear how the committee is going to look at the next tier down and I could see everyone beat the **** out of each other and a huge long jam for 4th. That will then create interesting questions for the committee as you will be 0-3 (and maybe 0-4) against the big boys and then have wins against OTHER bubble teams (as well as some losses). I could see us missing on selection sunday and that is OK. We will have come from SUCH deep caca.
Take care of your Chicken
Our Strength of Schedule in nonconference play will be a killer for us when it comes to participating in post season tournaments
UCLA is ranked, that win is looking good. I think the ACC with 4 ranked teams is going to mitigate that OOC qualm. 11-7 we're comfortably in, 10-8 we're on the good side of the bubble, 9-9 we'd need some good ACC tourney wins.
We're #38 in the AP Poll, 6th place in that poll in the ACC behind #35 Clemson, with Duke, Lville, UNC and UVA in the top 25. We clean up against Columbia and things are nicely set up.
We're #38 in the AP Poll, 6th place in that poll in the ACC behind #35 Clemson, with Duke, Lville, UNC and UVA in the top 25. We clean up against Columbia and things are nicely set up.
socaltownie said:
If this team finishes above 500 and gets an NIT bid that is a HUGE accomplishment. Keep recruiting well. Retain Pippen. Ditto Ames. Get out to the portal and get some front line help (huge need). Get NIL around BB addressed.
Dort only played one game in one of his four years... can he get a waiver and return to Cal next season?
Cal might break the top 25 soon
We'd have to beat Louisville for that, otherwise we will stay in the 30s/40s.
Cal (10-1) did not make the AP Top 25 this week, but the Bears did receive more votes than last week and are closing in on making the rankings going into the final two games of nonconference play. https://t.co/sxHeLI3bc6
— Golden Bear Report (On3 | Rivals) (@CalBearsOn3) December 15, 2025
HoopDreams said:socaltownie said:
If this team finishes above 500 and gets an NIT bid that is a HUGE accomplishment. Keep recruiting well. Retain Pippen. Ditto Ames. Get out to the portal and get some front line help (huge need). Get NIL around BB addressed.
Dort only played one game in one of his four years... can he get a waiver and return to Cal next season?
He absolutely has another year of eligibility. Given he was SEC All-Academic at Vanderbilt and ACC All-Academic at Cal last year I am sure he will have a Cal degree. If he wants to stay for a grad program ot go elsewhere will be his choice, but I really hope he stays. This year is setting up for a great year next year.
they may give it to us so they can sell more soap during the Louisville game.Cal88 said:
We'd have to beat Louisville for that, otherwise we will stay in the 30s/40s.
calumnus said:HoopDreams said:socaltownie said:
If this team finishes above 500 and gets an NIT bid that is a HUGE accomplishment. Keep recruiting well. Retain Pippen. Ditto Ames. Get out to the portal and get some front line help (huge need). Get NIL around BB addressed.
Dort only played one game in one of his four years... can he get a waiver and return to Cal next season?
He absolutely has another year of eligibility. Given he was SEC All-Academic at Vanderbilt and ACC All-Academic at Cal last year I am sure he will have a Cal degree. If he wants to stay for a grad program ot go elsewhere will be his choice, but I really hope he stays. This year is setting up for a great year next year.
Some folks dump on Dort, but I think he's improved tremendously from last year. It just seems like he hadn't had much coaching before coming to Cal. I think 6'9" is a stretch, and he doesn't have a 90" wingspan, but he's very athletic. He's even developed a little jump-hook from short-range that's pretty reliable. And yeah, he obviously does a good job with his academics, so what's to complain about? Well, true, his free throw shooting is pretty bad.
bearsandgiants said:they may give it to us so they can sell more soap during the Louisville game.Cal88 said:
We'd have to beat Louisville for that, otherwise we will stay in the 30s/40s.
Watching Louisville getting its butt kicked by a 7-3 Tennessee team…. maybe the Cardinals are reachable? Or is that just wishful thinking?
HearstMining said:calumnus said:HoopDreams said:socaltownie said:
If this team finishes above 500 and gets an NIT bid that is a HUGE accomplishment. Keep recruiting well. Retain Pippen. Ditto Ames. Get out to the portal and get some front line help (huge need). Get NIL around BB addressed.
Dort only played one game in one of his four years... can he get a waiver and return to Cal next season?
He absolutely has another year of eligibility. Given he was SEC All-Academic at Vanderbilt and ACC All-Academic at Cal last year I am sure he will have a Cal degree. If he wants to stay for a grad program ot go elsewhere will be his choice, but I really hope he stays. This year is setting up for a great year next year.
Some folks dump on Dort, but I think he's improved tremendously from last year. It just seems like he hadn't had much coaching before coming to Cal. I think 6'9" is a stretch, and he doesn't have a 90" wingspan, but he's very athletic. He's even developed a little jump-hook from short-range that's pretty reliable. And yeah, he obviously does a good job with his academics, so what's to complain about? Well, true, his free throw shooting is pretty bad.
Dort has steadily improved his Free Throw shooting, now at 70%. By comparison Patraitus shooting Free Throws about 65%.
Cal now up to 51 in NET and 68 on KenPom.
A convincing win against Columbia (84 NET and 124 KenPom) would help those metrics going into ACC play.
EDIT: After NET rankings updated Sunday morning, we have actually snuck into the top 50, at #49
A convincing win against Columbia (84 NET and 124 KenPom) would help those metrics going into ACC play.
EDIT: After NET rankings updated Sunday morning, we have actually snuck into the top 50, at #49
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