BearTalk

ABC4 Sports in Salt Lake City has posted a story suggesting the possibility that Utah — but not BYU — could be a future target for Pac-10 expansion.

Colorado also was cited in the story as a possible future Pac-10 school.

Twice the story stresses that “this is all speculation.”

Jon Wilner of the Bay Area News Group talked Monday with Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott, who said of possible expansion, “We’re looking at it very seriously.

“It wasn’t something identified for me by the presidents when I took the job. But it’s very natural as you look at the value of the conference from a media standpoint,” he said. “If we were ever going to look at expansion, this would be the logical time” (because negotiations for a new TV deal will begin next year).

Here’s the full report from ABC4 in Salt Lake City.

Pac-10 Conference commission Larry Scott has hired former Big 12 commissioner and one-time Big Ten executive Kevin Weiberg as the league’s new deputy commissioner.

Here’s the Pac-10’s official news release on the hiring, along with a story from Bud Withers in the Seattle Times.

Our Monday review of the weekend in Pac-10 hoops . . .

– Perhaps this could happen to any team, but what does it say about the Pac-10 that its first-place team got outscored 25-0 during one stretch? Cal went 10 minutes, 46 seconds without scoring at USC, shooting 0-for-10 with seven turnovers in 15 possessions. Two days later at UCLA, in a span of roughly the same amount of playing time, the Bears outscored the Bruins 26-6 to end the first half.

– Lots of concerns Thursday night for Cal in its rematch with Washington, but perhaps none bigger than this: The Huskies outrebounded Arizona and Arizona State by a combined 85-60 last weekend, pulling down 16 offensive boards in each game.

– Can’t be good for Ernie Kent’s cause at Oregon that the Ducks were swept in the Civil War rivalry game against Oregon State for the first time since 1992-93, and are 1-3 against Craig Robinson’s squad the past two seasons.

– Stanford’s weekend breakdown in L.A.: Landry Fields 62 points, Rest of the team 60 points. The senior forward shot 23-for-37 in the two games, his teammates were 20-for-77. Maybe the shot attempts should be flip-flopped.

– Washington State sophomore Klay Thompson was the nation’s leading scorer in December. Now he’s No. 2 in the Pac-10 — behind Fields — after shooting 13-for-57 from the 3-PT line the past eight games. That’s 22.8 percent.

– Stanford is now 1-15 in Pac-10 road games in two seasons under Johnny Dawkins. But don’t blame the coach until he gets better personnel.

– There’s not a first-round NBA draft pick in the Pac-10 this season, but in a year or two UCLA freshman Tyler Honeycutt may get there. His impressive stat line against Stanford: 12 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists. When he develops a jump shot, he’s going to tough.

– The Bruins’  other freshman forward, Modesto native Reeves Nelson, has an effective bullish quality to his game, but we wonder how long Pac-10 refs are going to allow him to stick his head into a defender’s chest to create space.

–  San Leandro’s Jared Cunningham hasn’t been an overnight success as a freshman point guard at Oregon State, but he’s making progress. Cunningham had 11 points, four assists and four steals in the win over Oregon.

– In a world with serious problems, sending USC student manager Stan Holt out of town on a rail for cursing at a game official seemed a bit heavy-handed. However it came down, seems right that he was reinstated.

Joe Lunardi, ESPN.com’s resident “bracketologist,” has just one Pac-10 in his projected NCAA Tournament field this week — and it’s Cal.

Lunardi has the Bears as a No. 10 seed, playing No. 7 UNLV at Milwaukee, with the winner facing either No. 2 Michigan State or Sam Houston in the second round.

Saint Mary’s is a No. 9 seed, matched against No. 8 Cornell at Providence, R.I., with the winner advancing to play either Villanova or Stony Brook.

The top seeds, according to Lunardi, will be Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky and Villanova.

THE COMPUTER POLLS: Cal checks in at No. 26 in today’s official NCAA RPI computer poll, down two spots from a week ago. Three teams that have beaten the Bears — Kansas, Syracuse and New Mexico — are in the top 10. Bad news for Saint Mary’s, which walloped Santa Clara and USF, but dropped 10 spots from No. 35 to 45.

The rest of the Pac-10 in the RPI: 55. Washington; 67. Arizona; 77. ASU; 80. USC; 106. WSU; 136. UCLA; 146. Oregon; 155. Stanford. 195. OSU.

Cal is No. 35 in the Sagarin computer poll, with Saint Mary’s at No. 32. The rest of the Pac-10: 52. Washington; 53. ASU; 73. USC; 76. Arizona; 94. WSU; 114. Oregon; 117. Stanford; 125. UCLA; 151. OSU.

TOP-25 POLLS: You won’t be real surprised to learn there are still no Pac-10 teams ranked in either the AP writers poll or the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. You can click here to view both of them. Kansas is No. 1 in both, with Syracuse No. 2 according to AP, Kentucky No. 2 in the coaches poll.

The Golden Bears (15-8) are No. 26 in today’s RealTimeRPI.com computer ratings — the highest-rated team with as many as eight defeats.

The reason? Their No. 4 strength-of-schedule.

Here’s how some of the teams that Cal played prior to the Pac-10 have fared:

– Kansas is 22-1, ranked No. 1 in the RPI, and unbeaten and alone in first place in the Big 12.

– Syracuse is 23-1, ranked No. 2 in the RPI and in first place in the Big East.

– New Mexico is 21-3, ranked No. 10 in the RPI and tied for first in the Mountain West Conference.

– Ohio State is 18-6, No. 35 in the RPI and tied for second in the Big Ten.

– Murray State is 22-3 overall and first in the Ohio Valley Conference at 13-0.

– Pacific is in first place in the Big West at 8-2.

– UC Santa Barbara is second in the Big West, one-half game back at 8-3.

AROUND THE PAC-10

 Bears emerge from four-way tie to lead at 7-4, but five teams are 6-5 . . .

– USC 54, Stanford 49: The Trojans (14-9, 6-5) polished off a weekend sweep of the Bay Area schools and avenged a one-point loss last month to the Cardinal (10-13, 4-7), which fell into last place and remained winless in 10 games this season. Pac-10 scoring leader Landry Fields had 27 points and 11 rebounds for Stanford.

– Washington 79, Arizona State 56: Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas each scored 17 points and the Huskies (16-7, 6-5) knocked the Sun Devils (16-8, 6-5) out of a first-place tie. ASU’s starting five combined to score just 27 points.

– Washington State 78, Arizona 60: The Cougars (15-8, 5-6) got  19 points from DeAngelo Casto to push the Wildcats (12-11, 6-5) out of first place. Derrick Williams scored 16 for UA.

– Oregon State 62, Oregon , 42: The Beavers (10-12, 4-6) completed a season of their in-state rivals and climbed out of the conference cellar, getting 18 points from Omari Johnson. Oregon (12-10, 4-6) shot just 29.8 percent, including 2-for-177 from the 3-PT arc.

– Pac-10 standings: Cal 7-4, Arizona 6-5, Arizona State 6-5, UCLA 6-5, USC 6-5, Washington 6-5, Washington State 5-6, Oregon State 4-6, Oregon 4-6,  Stanford 4-7.

– Thursday’s schedule: Washington at Cal;  Washington State at Stanford; Oregon at Ariona; Oregon State at Arizona State.

FINAL SCORE: CAL 72, UCLA 58. A huge win for the Bears, now 15-8 and 7-4 in the Pac-10. UPDATE: Bears end the day alone in first place after Arizona and ASU both lose in Washington. Cal’s first win at Pauley since 2006, meaning it was the first time for Randle and Christopher. Cal broke a 6-game overall  losing streak to the Bruins., and got  2-2 split of the four games on this tough road stretch. Christopher and Robertson each had 2o points, Randle had 14 and seven assists and drew big-time praise afterward from Mike Montgomery. The threesome of Sanders-Frison, Amoke and Gutiterrez combined for 12 points and 16 rebounds. Bears shot 54.6 percent. Roll scored 22 for Bruins (11-12, 6-5), who fall out of the four-way tie for first place. Bears back home Thursday to face Washington.

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Yes, it is possible.

Likely, no.

Easy, no.

Realistic, no.

Would it require a few surprises? Heck, does anything constitute a surprise in this Pac-10 this season?

Yes, it’s mathematically possible that this craziest of Pac-10 seasons could wind up with all 10 teams tied for first — and last — at 9-9.

Getting there actually doesn’t require too much imagination. I’ve projected the home team to win 34 of the final 41 Pac-10 games.

There are a few upsets:
   — Washington finally wins a road game — at WSU
   — Oregon wins at Arizona and UCLA
   — Oregon State wins at ASU
   — WSU wins at Cal

But I ask you: Is that any crazier than what we’ve seen so far?

And for once, there’d be absolutely no debate: The Pac-10 tournament would be paramount. Winner to the NCAA Tournament, everyone else need not apply.

All that said, we’d be nuts to believe this scenario will play out.

But just for fun, here’s how it could happen:

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It was the Bears’ post-game mantra Thursday after losing at USC, and coach Mike Montgomery repeated the words Friday following a 2-hour practice session at Pauley Pavilion.

“Try to stay positive,” he said on the eve of today’s game against UCLA.

Staying upbeat couldn’t have been easy for the Bears after losing 63-60 to the Trojans in a game where they led 30-17, then surrendered an incomprehensible 25-0 run that spanned more than 10 1/2 minutes over the two halves.

“Anytime you lose, it’s disappointing. I suppose anybody who’s with us or behind us is disappointed, too,” Montgomery said. “This notion that we’re appreciably better than anybody is just obviously not the case. We lost three games, basically, in the last minute. If we just make plays, or get stops . . .  ”

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Cal signees Allen Crabbe and Richard Solomon combined for 36 points, leading Price High to a 79-45 victory over Lutheran of LaVerne, with Bears coach Mike Montgomery and his wife, along with assistant Travis DeCuire among the crowd.

Crabbe had 23 points, including four 3-pointers, grabbed seven rebounds and had two assists, while Solomon had 13 points, four rebounds and five blocked shots. Price improved to 22-2 on the season.

On Senior Night, Montgomery visited with two of his four incoming freshmen and their parents after the game. Solomon said he attended the Bears’ Thursday night game at USC, and Crabbe indicated he plans to watch Cal play at UCLA on Saturday.

It was my first glimpse of the two, and both are quick and athletic. Crabbe, listed at 6-foot-6, isn’t much shorter than that — at least 6-5. He has a nice stroke, is fast up and down the floor with the ball and seemed unselfish. Of the two, Crabbe comes off as a more polished and confident player at this point.

Solomon was announced as 6-9, but is probably no more than 6-8. He’s very thin and will benefit from time in the weight room. He opened the game by sinking a pair of 3-pointers and made a couple of impressive blocks, but was not an aggressive rebounder in this game.

AROUND THE PAC-10

Here’s Saturday’s schedule . . .

– Cal at UCLA, 1 p.m.: The Bears (14-8, 6-4) need a win to halt a two-game losing streak and emerge from this two-weekend road swing at 2-2. They have lost six straight to the Bruins (11-11, 6-4), who have climbed into a four-way tie for first place.

– Stanford at USC, 4:30 p.m.: Can the Cardinal (10-12, 4-6) win a road game? Not so far after nine tries this season. A loss here, coupled with an Oregon State win over Oregon would leave Stanford in last place. USC (13-9, 5-5) would like to avenge a 54-53 loss at Maples Pavilion last month.

– Oregon at Oregon State, 3 p.m.: The Ducks (12-9, 4-5) arrive in Corvallis riding a two-game win streak, but they had won six in a row when they lost to the Beavers (9-12, 3-6) at Mac Court last month.

– Arizona at Washington State, 5:30 p.m.: The Wildcats (12-10, 6-4) had won four straight before falling Thursday at Washington. The Cougars 14-8, 4-6) have dropped three in a row, but beat UA in Tucson last month.

– Arizona State at Washington, 7:30 p.m.: The Sun Devils (16-7, 6-4), also tied for first place, blasted the Huskies (15-7, 5-5) 68-51 in Tempe last month, but UW is 15-1 at home.

– Pac-10 standings: Cal 6-4, Arizona 6-4, Arizona State 6-4, UCLA 6-4, USC 5-5, Washington 5-5, Oregon 4-5, Stanford 4-6, Washington State 4-6, Oregon State 3-6.

LOCAL HEROES

In a duel of former Oakland Athletic League standouts, Will Cherry (Oakland-McClymonds) scored 14 points to help Montana to a 75-61 win over Weber State, which got 24 points from Damian Lillard (Oakland HS). It was the 12th game of at least 20 points this season for Lillard.