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Cal Basketball

Bears Picked Last in Preseason Media Poll

October 8, 2019
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Ahead of the men’s portion of the Pac-12 hoops media day, the conference released its media preseason poll. To really no one’s surprise, the Bears finished last, receiving just 35 votes. Oregon topped the ranking with 291 votes, edging out Colorado, which received 288 votes. Washington rounded out the top three with 273 votes.

Cal fans shouldn’t be surprised or offended by the placement as the Bears have a new coach and six players that have never played in a Cal uniform. Combine that with the fact the Bears have combined for 5-31 in Pac-12 play over the past two seasons and the ranking makes sense.

While the media poll placed the Bears at the back of the pack again, computer models have been a bit more kind to Cal’s preseason hopes. The 2020 Torvik Projections currently put Cal finishing 10th in the conference with a projected 12-18 (6-12 Pac-12) record. Torvik places both Utah and Washington State behind the Bears. The media put Wazzu ahead of the Bears by 12 votes and Utah in ninth place earning 131 points.

Torvik Projections:

  1. Oregon, 22-7 (13-5)
  2. Arizona, 21-8 (12-6)
  3. Colorado, 20-9 (12-6)
  4. Arizona State, 19-11 (10-8)
  5. Washington, 19-10 (11-7)
  6. Oregon State, 17-12 (9-9)
  7. USC, 18-11 (9-9)
  8. UCLA, 16-13 (8-10)
  9. Stanford, 16-14 (7-11)
  10. California, 12-18 (6-12)
  11. Utah, 10-18 (5-13)
  12. Washington State, 11-18 (4-14)

The two teams at the top of the media poll — Oregon and Colorado — have taken very different approaches to their projected finishes. Oregon will rely on a slew of newcomers including national JUCO player of the year Chris Duarte, grad transfer from New Mexico Anthony Mathis, and UNLV transfer Shakur Juiston. The Ducks will also need immediate contributions from a top-five recruiting class featuring blue-chippers N’Faly Dante and CJ Walker, among others.

Colorado, by contrast, features a core of upperclassmen that have been with the program for years. The Buffs return virtually everyone from last year’s team which finished fourth in the conference with a 10-8 record and made it to the quarterfinals of the NIT before losing to eventual NIT champions, the Texas Longhorns. With only one top-100 recruit (D’Shawn Schwartz) since 2015, Colorado has built a solid program with four-year players and consistency. 

The Bears officially begin the season on Tuesday, November 5 against Pepperdine. Conference play begins for the Bears on January 2 at Stanford.

Discussion from...

Bears Picked Last in Preseason Media Poll

11,024 Views | 19 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by calumnus
calpoly
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8:59a, 10/8/19
Not surprised. No place to go but up!
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Ccajon2
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9:54a, 10/8/19
9-3 OOC 7-11 Conference. Probably ridiculously optimistic but isn't our ooc sched. A tad weak?
And a home NIT game @ Haas.
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BearSD
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10:40a, 10/8/19
I count 13 non-conference games on the schedule. (The first game listed there is against a Division II team and does not count in the standings.)

I'll go with 7-6 in non-con games and 6-12 in conference. Big improvement over the previous two seasons.

One step at a time here. Got to walk before you can run, etc., etc.
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Bobodeluxe
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10:46a, 10/8/19
The Conzo curse continues! Great
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calbear80
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2:03p, 10/8/19
Utah will finish better than 11th place because they have a very good coach.

Go Bears!
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calbear80
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In reply to Bobodeluxe • 2:11p, 10/8/19
Bobodeluxe said:
The Conzo curse continues! Great

No. The Guy Mike Williams Hired As MBB "coach" curse continues.

Go Bears!
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joe amos yaks
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3:52p, 10/8/19
Who is this guy "Torvik"?
Is he the guy with the secret analytical method, wax lips and big ears?
"Those who say don't know, and those who know don't say." - LT
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SFCityBear
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In reply to joe amos yaks • 4:14p, 10/8/19
joe amos yaks said:
Who is this guy "Torvik"?
Is he the guy with the secret analytical method, wax lips and big ears?
I don't know, but the guy (or robot) likes us a little bit, and that is better than the media types who voted in this poll. "Off with their heads", as the Queen of Hearts would say.
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oskidunker
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5:59p, 10/8/19
Lets hope we can beat someone other than Stanford in the conference.
Bring back It’s It’s to Haas Pavillion!
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helltopay1
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11:25p, 10/8/19
And, our women are picked next to last---no wonder Charmin bolted the team early in the process..
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SFCityBear
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In reply to oskidunker • 12:26p, 10/9/19
oskidunker said:
Lets hope we can beat someone other than Stanford in the conference.
If we don't beat anyone, I hope we at least beat Stanford twice.
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BeachedBear
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In reply to SFCityBear • 12:44p, 10/9/19
SFCityBear said:
oskidunker said:
Lets hope we can beat someone other than Stanford in the conference.
If we don't beat anyone, I hope we at least beat Stanford twice.
That's a fun poll question:

Simply for bragging rights, would you rather go 2-16 with both wins over Stanford, or go 4-14 with a split vs Stanford or 6-12 losing both to Stanford?

Basically, valuing a Stanford win as a two wins over another P12 team.
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oskidunker
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1:00p, 10/9/19
Sorry, I want to see progress.
Bring back It’s It’s to Haas Pavillion!
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SFCityBear
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In reply to BeachedBear • 1:21p, 10/9/19
BeachedBear said:
SFCityBear said:
oskidunker said:
Lets hope we can beat someone other than Stanford in the conference.
If we don't beat anyone, I hope we at least beat Stanford twice.
That's a fun poll question:

Simply for bragging rights, would you rather go 2-16 with both wins over Stanford, or go 4-14 with a split vs Stanford or 6-12 losing both to Stanford?

Basically, valuing a Stanford win as a two wins over another P12 team.
I don't see how a bad losing season like 2-16, 4-14, or 6-12 gives us much to brag about. The only one that would tempt me to brag, would be, as I said, beating Stanford twice. In terms of success, of course 6-12 would be a much better showing than 2-16.

I think I look at being a fan in personal terms, including bragging rights over my friends. I had several high school classmates and even a relative who went to Stanford, so we still enjoy the rivalry immensely. One classmate who went to Stanford, became a physician, and lived on the Berkeley-Oakland border, and he became a good Cal fan, and no longer follows Stanford teams much. I grew up when basketball was provincial, and as such, I've still got a longing to beat USF, St Marys, and Santa Clara, now that two of them are fairly good teams again. I still have trouble getting overly excited about beating the recent invites to the conference, Utah and Colorado.

I would like to beat UCLA, even though they are in a down period, because of Wooden beating us like a drum for so many years Any win over UCLA is special for me. I don't really dislike any other PAC12 program, and want to beat them as much. Maybe Oregon, as I didn't like Altman looking the other way in the sexual abuse scandals. But this isn't like football for me, where I have genuine dislike for USC, for recruiting, for cheating, for playing dirty. I'd like Cal to beat them by 2000 points, as John McKay said about Stanford. My two favorite Cal football wins were Joe Roth's 1975 team over favored USC 28-14, and Joe Kapp's 1956 team 20-18 win over 3-touchdown favorite Stanford with John Brodie.
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parentswerebears
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10:12a, 10/10/19
This thread brings me back to the poll on the main page. What am I excited about concerning men's basketball? Nothing. This is the first year since Montgomery that I am not planning to go to any games. I really don't care. Fox turns me off, hasn't done much on the recruiting front and this space here has become a space where we are sharing old songs, so the meh seems to have spread. Cal basketball is uninspiring at best. I hope that they do better than predicted. I hope they gel and that international route works. I hope that my meh is unfounded, but I suspect that I won't be proven wrong. Honestly, with the new California law, everything about college basketball that I loved is in jeopardy and the whole sport will become uninteresting. And that sucks, because some of my favorite sports moments are NCAA tournament related.

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oskidunker
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10:24a, 10/10/19
Give Fox a chance
Bring back It’s It’s to Haas Pavillion!
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socaltownie
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In reply to parentswerebears • 8:14p, 10/14/19
parentswerebears said:
This thread brings me back to the poll on the main page. What am I excited about concerning men's basketball? Nothing. This is the first year since Montgomery that I am not planning to go to any games. I really don't care. Fox turns me off, hasn't done much on the recruiting front and this space here has become a space where we are sharing old songs, so the meh seems to have spread. Cal basketball is uninspiring at best. I hope that they do better than predicted. I hope they gel and that international route works. I hope that my meh is unfounded, but I suspect that I won't be proven wrong. Honestly, with the new California law, everything about college basketball that I loved is in jeopardy and the whole sport will become uninteresting. And that sucks, because some of my favorite sports moments are NCAA tournament related.

+1. I am afraid that we are in for 4 years of meh and then another roll of the dice at a university which, bluntly, just cares about other things than sports a lot more than most competitive NCAA programs.
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59bear
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In reply to calpoly • 7:04a, 10/15/19
calpoly said:
Not surprised. No place to go but up!
Yep, we're last or next to last in every preview I've seen. If Fox can have them competitive it will be a step forward.
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calumnus
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In reply to socaltownie • 9:28p, 10/16/19
socaltownie said:
parentswerebears said:
This thread brings me back to the poll on the main page. What am I excited about concerning men's basketball? Nothing. This is the first year since Montgomery that I am not planning to go to any games. I really don't care. Fox turns me off, hasn't done much on the recruiting front and this space here has become a space where we are sharing old songs, so the meh seems to have spread. Cal basketball is uninspiring at best. I hope that they do better than predicted. I hope they gel and that international route works. I hope that my meh is unfounded, but I suspect that I won't be proven wrong. Honestly, with the new California law, everything about college basketball that I loved is in jeopardy and the whole sport will become uninteresting. And that sucks, because some of my favorite sports moments are NCAA tournament related.

+1. I am afraid that we are in for 4 years of meh and then another roll of the dice at a university which, bluntly, just cares about other things than sports a lot more than most competitive NCAA programs.


+2 I hope to be proven wrong and always, always root for the amateur student athletes representing our school.

Go Bears!
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