The Benson Blog: We Gotta Beat Stanford

What a ride this season has been so far. After being projected anywhere from 14th to last in theACC, the Bears currently sit at 10th in the loaded conference. What a blessing. As we head into the Stanfurd game, a game we lost at home last season, I feel like adding some pressure.

Not that pressure is good, but it’s not always bad. The type of pressure I’m talking about is the kind that can only exist when a team has proven they have the ability to win and they’re close enough to their goal to focus and lock in. With those considerations, I’m going on record to say that we HAVE to beat Stanfurd. I don’t want to see that dancing tree do anything but limp out of Haas, shamefully.

Let me explain.

Of course we don’t have to beat Stanfurd, but we have to beat them. On the one hand, we have a lot to gain by winning. Although we are only separated by one game in the standings, both teams have a decent chance to make the tournament given the remaining schedule. I think it means more to us, though. We haven’t tasted any kind of success for so long that our program would benefit much more with a win.

On the other hand, it’s also Stanfurd. F’ em. I attended last year's game, a loss, and spent the entire game chatting with Fernando Mendoza about what our athletic program needs in order to keep guys like him. As it went, we lost the game and he left Cal. I’m not saying the events are correlated, but aren’t they? The types of programs that hold on to guys like that win in times like these. They show what the school is really made of. That’s what pressure really is.

I want to apply this level of pressure because I believe we should win. Not “can,” but “should.”

Stanfurd only has 3 losses by double digits all season, and only two at home: Cal and Duke.

And we didn’t win because we got lucky. We shut down their best player, freshman Josh Okorie.

We did it with a smart game plan and a level of effort that the Candinul couldn't match. We can do it again. We have to.

It’s not a secret that we’re on the NCAA bubble, just like it’s not a secret that with five games left, four are against teams in the bottom half of the conference. We’ve gotta go at least 3-2 (I’dprefer 4-1) in these games, and finish at .500 if we want to go dancing. Not only that, I think one of those wins has to come against Stanfurd or SMU. We have the Curds at home right where we want them. It’s time to show and prove.

I know that’s a lot to ask of a team that started with no hype or expectations. But expectationsare built. They’re earned. The 25/26 Bears have earned the right to be under pressure. They made Caleb Wilson look so silly, that Danny Green has to consider if Madsen is a better coach than Hubert Davis. They beat UCLA so badly that Mick Cronin probably had a small man meltdown (the worst kind of meltdown). And last time we played Furd, we made Okorie so frustrated that I bet he considered transferring after the loss. Those games aren’t anomalies.

They're the blueprint.

I normally end things like this by saying something like “win, lose, or draw” but today I’m saying “after we win…” and continuing with “these kids will etch their names in Cal royalty.” Notbecause they were the most talented team in Cal history, but because they were the first teamto bring us back. To inspire us. They have a chance to be the team we talk about 30 years fromnow as the team that made us special again.

That said, I don’t hope we win. I expect we win. And I’ll deal with the consequences of thatconfidence after the game.

Go Bears