BearTalk

Just got my copy of the Athlon Sports College Basketball annual, and Cal is picked to win the Pac-10. The Bears are rated 14th nationally and predicted to reach the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s how the magazine sees the entire conference:

1. Cal

2. Washington

3. UCLA

4. Oregon State

5. Arizona

6. Arizona State

7. Washington State

8. USC

9. Oregon

10. Stanford

Here’s more from Athlon:

– Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher are named to Athlon’s five-man all-conference first team, joined by Washington’s Isaiah Thomas, Arizona’s Nic Wise and Oregon State’s Roeland Schaftenaar.   Cal’s Theo Robertson is picked to the second team.

– Christopher is projected as the Pac-10 Player of the Year, and joins Randle as an honorable mention All-America pick.

– Randle is tabbed as the nation’s second-best shooter, behind Willie Warren of Oklahoma, while Christopher is ranked as the sixth-best scorer. Washington guard Abdul Gaddy is included on a list of 10 impact freshmen.

– Oregon’s Ernie Kent is among 12 coaches on the hot seat and Saint Mary’s’ Randy Bennett among 10 who fly under the radar. Cal’s Mike Montgomery was judged one of the best five first-year coaches from 2008-09, along with Oregon State’s Craig Robinson and former Stanford coach Trent Johnson, who turned things at LSU.