BearTalk

ESPN.com “bracketologist” Joe Lunardi has Cal as a No. 9 seed in his latest NCAA tournament projection.

Lunardi has the Bears playing Virginia in an opening-round game in Omaha, Neb.

The only other Pac-12 team he has in the field is Stanford, projected as a No. 12 seed in a play-in game against Portland.

Saint Mary’s College is seeded No. 2, according to Lunardi’s current projections.

– Also, here is a Pac-12 breakdown by ESPN.com’s Eamonn Brennan.

– UCLA is reporting that David Wear, who injured his left knee Saturday against Oregon, underwent an MRI on Monday. The test showed no damage and Wear returned to practice.

Cal’s baseball team will host Dallas Baptist at Santa Clara University’s Schott Stadium beginning Saturday in the first NCAA Super Regional appearance for both teams.

The best-of-three series to determine a bid to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

Game 2 is set for Sunday at 7 p.m. and will air on ESPNU.

A third game, if necessary, will be played Monday at either 1 or 4 p.m. and be televised on ESPN2 or ESPNU.

The Golden Bears (35-21) and Patriots (42-18) both submitted bids to host the Super Regionals, but neither school’s campus facility met the NCAA criteria. Evans Diamond at Berkeley does not have lights and the lights at Dallas Baptist’s field are not sufficiently bright for TV coverage.

Dallas Baptist hoped to schedule the series at nearby QuikTrip Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, home of the Grand Prairie Air Hogs, an independent semi-pro team. Santa Clara’s Stephen Schott Stadium, a six-year-old facility with 1,500 seats, earned the nod.

Check Cal’s website for ticket information.

ESPN.com’s tireless Joe Lunardi has provided us his latest projected 2012 NCAA tournament bracket, following Sunday’s NBA draft decisions.

Lunardi includes five Pac-10 teams in his bracket, including Cal as a No. 10 seed, facing No. 7 Michigan in Columbus, Ohio.

Also in the field from the Pac-10: Arizona, UCLA, Washington and USC.

Arizona’s projected No. 2 seed seems very high to us. Those freshmen are going to be good, but the loss of Derrick Williams will be bigger. UCLA is at No. 8, Washington at No. 10 and USC at No. 12, in a play-in game vs. Saint Mary’s.

North Carolina, Ohio State, Duke and Kentucky are Lunardi’s four No. 1 seeds. Could be any year, right?

Yes, it’s more than a little early for this kind of thing, but why not?

ESPN.com bracketologist Joe Lunardi has projected Cal as a No. 9 seed in the 2011 NCAA tournament. Lunardi has the Bears facing Clemson in a first-round game at Pittsburgh.

Of course, the official bracket won’t be announced for more than 10 months, so you might want to delay purchasing your airline tickets.

The Pac-12 will earn five NCAA berths next season, according to Lunardi’s vision. He also has Arizona (without Derrick Williams) as a No. 3 seed, UCLA (without Tyler Honeycutt and Malcolm Lee) at No. 7, Washington (without Isaiah Thomas) as a No. 10, and USC (without Nikola Vucevic) as a No. 12.

Here’s the full bracket.

Just wondering: Which team playing in Monday night’s national championship game do you want to see win?

Are you pulling for UConn and its star guard Kemba Walker?

Or underdog Butler, making its second straight appearance in the national title game?

Washington senior guard Venoy Overton, in an interview with the Seattle Times, talks about how grateful he is to be reinstated for the NCAA tournament. Overton was suspended for the Pac-10 tournament after being charged with providing alcohol to a minor.

– Nikola Vucevic assumes a leadership role for USC.

– The U.S. Basketball Writers of America named Arizona sophomore Derrick Williams to its five-man All-America second team.  Here’s the USBWA news release.

UCLA (22-10) is a No. 10 seed in the Southeast Region and will play Thursday against No. 10 Michigan State (19-14) at Tampa, Fla.

Disappointing news for Saint Mary’s College (25-8), which was not selected. The Gaels began the season 17-2, then lost six of their final 14 games. SMC was No. 45 in the RPI today. USC, which got a bid, is No. 69 in the RPI. But Harvard, which also was left out of the field, is No. 35, according to RealTimeRPI.

Other “bubble” teams left out included Colorado, Alabama, Virginia Tech, Boston College and Missouri State.

USC (19-14) and reinstated coach Kevin O’Neill will take on Virginia Commonwealth (23-11) in a Wednesday play-in game at Dayton, Ohio, for the right to become the No. 11 seed in the NCAA Southwest bracket and face No. 6 Georgetown on Friday in Chicago.

Pac-10 regular-season champion Arizona (27-7) draws Memphis (25-9) out of Conference USA in a West Region game Friday at Tulsa, Okla. The winner figures to take on No. 2 Texas (27-7), which opens vs. Oakland (25-9).

Pac-10 tournament champion Washington (23-10) is seeded No. 7 in the East Region and will face No. 10 Georgia (21-11) on Friday at Charlotte, N.C. The winner likely takes on No. 2 North Carolina (26-7), which opens against Long Island U. (27-5).