Bear Territory Tuesday: A quick reaction to Cal's Pac-12 schedule windows

     On Monday, the Pac-12 schedule windows for the 2015-16 California Golden Bears men's basketball team were released.

Via CalBears.com:

As part of the conference’s 18-game schedule, each school will face seven league opponents twice and four opponents once throughout the regular season. Cal will not play UCLA and USC on the road and will not host Washington and Washington State at home during the 2015-16 league slate.

Home/Away Designations and Date WindowsDec. 30-Jan. 3: Colorado and Utah
Jan. 6-10: at Oregon and Oregon State
Jan. 13-17: at Stanford
Jan. 20-24: Arizona State and Arizona
Jan. 27-31: at Colorado and Utah
Feb. 3-7: Stanford
Feb. 10-14: Oregon and Oregon State
Feb. 17-21: at Washington and Washington State
Feb. 24-28: UCLA and USC
March 2-6: at Arizona and Arizona State

     What has not yet been decided is when exactly Cal will play each of these games, but we do know the order, the locations, and the amount of times they will play each team. At first glance, the first thing that jumps out at me are the dates with Arizona. Cal has developed a rivalry with Arizona as of late, ending their perfect season during the 2013-14 season and stealing Ivan Rabb away from them a couple of months ago. It is good to know that the Wildcats will be making a trip to Berkeley this upcoming season so that we can have another "Gold Out Haas".

     Secondly, it's nice to know that there won't be an L.A. road trip. Cal really got waxed in Southern California last season for reasons that I still don't understand. It was bizarre to see them struggle the way that they did, so I for one am happy that we will only be playing UCLA and USC at home.

     Third, I think it's very interesting that Cal will face Utah right out of the gate. Utah came out of nowhere to become a top 10 team last season and Cal is now trying to do the same thing this upcoming season. I think it'll be fascinating to see how Utah handles Cal surpassing them in terms of hype and expectations. Utah will want to send a message and Cal at the same time will want to prove that they belong and avenge the loss they had to Utah last season. In addition, while it'll be fun to also get a second crack at Utah on the road, the Colorado-Utah road trip will be a real test for Cal, especially after having just played Arizona at home.

     Lastly, what stands out to me is the fact that none of these games stand out to me! What I mean by that is that there is no Pac-12 opponent who Cal should fear. The Arizona games will be fun because of the recent history that Cal has with them and the fact that Cal should be able to go toe-to-toe with them all season. But as far as there begin an opponent who Cal should feel inferior to, there is none and that is amazing considering where this team was just 12 months ago.

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord for NBA and Cal basketball news 

Bear Territory Thursday: Cal gets a reality check against Arizona

     Cal got a reality check against the #5 ranked Arizona Wildcats tonight, getting blown out by the score of 99-60. It was a game that Cal never was really in outside of the first 4-5 minutes of the game. After a score of 12-12, Arizona went on a 9-2 run and never looked back. Arizona continued to add insult to injury the rest of the way, not letting up for even a second. As a result, Arizona secured another Pac-12 regular season title and Cal secured a losing record in the conference. Arizona's forward Brandon Ashley led the way with 21 points and 6 rebounds.

     The harsh reality for Cal is that their 5th gear is Arizona's 2nd gear. Arizona simply has 3-4 extra gears that Cal doesn't have. This isn't to say that Cal couldn't have played better, because they certainly could have. Jordan Mathews for example was practically invisible, scoring just 3 points on 1-5 shooting and Tyrone Wallace only scored 16 points, shooting an inefficient 7-18 from the field.

     Had both of those guys played better with Jabari Bird and David Kravish producing more, Cal could have made things interesting. In addition, Sam Singer played well tonight, scoring 13 points and grabbing 4 rebounds on 5-8 shooting from the field and 3-3 shooting from the foul line. Cal got the bench production they needed, but their starting lineup really let them down.

     Cal doesn't have much time before they face Arizona State on Saturday at 11:30 AM PST, but perhaps that's a good thing. Cal needs to put this loss out of their minds and focus on getting some revenge against an Arizona State team that embarrassed them earlier in the season in Berkeley. In addition, Cal could be playing for a #7 seed in the Pac-12 tournament which could help them avoid Arizona until the championship game.

     I'll talk more about this in my Pac-12 tournament preview, but I do think Utah is vulnerable in a way that Arizona is not. Cal played Utah tough for a half on the road and Utah has lost four times this year in the conference going into their game tonight at Washington State. If Cal could face Utah instead of Arizona in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament, that would be huge, so even though tonight's loss was ugly, that doesn't change the fact that a lot is still riding on Saturday's game at Arizona State.

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord 
   

Bear Territory Thursday: Cal enters Rocky Mountain road trip with a lot of momentum

     Cal's Rocky Mountain road trip starts tonight at Colorado at 6:00 PM PST and concludes Sunday at #11 Utah at 5:30 PM PST. This is undoubtedly the toughest road trip Cal will go on all season, and thankfully they are entering this road trip with a lot of momentum, having won their last four games against Washington State, Washington, USC, and UCLA. Three of those four games were decided by two points or less, but for Cal any win is a good win after the way they started Pac-12 play (1-6).

     Cal's hot winning streak has vaulted them to 7th in the Pac-12 with a 5-6 record in the conference, which is huge just in terms of their positioning for the Pac-12 tournament. A top-four seed and a first round bye in the Pac-12 tournament is now in sight, which in and of itself is a miracle judging by how poor their season started.

     What's better is that the team seems to have a lot of confidence in who they are. In their post-game press conference after defeating UCLA, Jabari Bird said about their turnaround "We're on cloud nine". The confidence can be seen across the board in all players. Dwight Tarwater hit the game winning shot to beat UCLA, Tyrone Wallace hit the game-winning three at the buzzer to defeat USC, and Sam Singer hit the game-winning three to defeat Washington. As for Jabari Bird, against UCLA he posted 16 points and was playing with way more energy, passion, and excitement than we have seen from him all season.

     The player who has undergone the biggest metamorphosis in this four game winning streak is Sam Singer. We've all known how great of a pass-first point guard he is and what he brings on defense, but his shot has been faulty over the course of his young career. But ever since he hit that game-winner in Washington, he has suddenly morphed into a three-point shooting threat, shooting 3-4 from beyond the arc against UCLA. In the post-game press conference after the UCLA game, Singer said "I knew at some point they were going to start falling. It's about keep shooting confidently and keep working hard."

     Singer's transformation is huge for the team because the team has been in desperate need of other guys to score besides Jabari Bird, Tyrone Wallace, David Kravish, and Jordan Mathews. When Cal gets other guys scoring the ball besides their "Big Four", Cal is a very tough and dangerous team. Singer in particular becomes a very dangerous player because he does everything else on the court extremely well.

     With all this confidence and momentum, what can we expect from Cal in this tough road trip to the Rocky Mountains? I think a split is conceivable, but a sweep is highly unlikely. This has much more to do with who they are playing than how they are playing. There are three factors that make this road trip tough: They're on the road, they're playing at high elevation, and they are playing one of the best teams in the country in Utah.

     Utah is ranked #11 at the moment and they haven't lost a game at home all season. Utah fans can get pretty crazy when their teams are doing well, so I anticipate that Salt Lake City will be a fairly hostile environment for Cal. Cal should not at all expect to win that game. As for tonight's game against Colorado, I think odds are good Cal gets the win, especially since they are coming in with a lot of momentum. Colorado is favored by 7 points, but I think the game can be a lot closer than that. Colorado is #9 in the Pac-12 with a 4-6 record in the conference, so there really isn't anything particularly intimidating about them other than the altitude.

      Cal should feel really confident that they can win tonight. If they win tonight, Cal will then be going into Salt Lake City on a five game winning streak, and at that point they can just play footloose and fancy free. All the pressure will be on Utah and none of it will be on Cal. If Cal gets the win at Utah as well as at Colorado, then their season will go from having a faint pulse to make the NCAA tournament to having a legitimate chance.

     Teams do get rewarded for finishing the season strong as well as get punished for finishing the season weak. If Cal gets both wins in the Rockies, they will be in a prime position to finish the season very strong with their next game being at Stanford, a game that I will preview next week.

     In conclusion, Cal basketball is looking a hell of a lot better than it was two weeks ago. They've won four straight games, vaulted to 7th in the conference, and the team is playing with a tremendous amount of confidence. Hopefully they can continue to build off of their success and shock the nation this week in the Rocky Mountains. Go Bears!

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord