BearTalk

Check out columnist Monte Poole’s interview with Jason Kidd, looking back 20 years to Cal’s 1993 upset of two-time defending national champion Duke and the Bears’ run into the NCAA’s Sweet 16.

Without any doubt, the biggest moment in Cal basketball since the Pete Newell era.

The Cal women’s basketball team received a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament and will play Fresno State in the first round on Saturday at Lubbock, Texas.

The No. 2 seed is the highest in program history. The Golden Bears’ previous high seed was third in 2008. They were a No. 8 seed in the tournament last year.

Cal (28-3) will face No. 15 Fresno State at 1:20 p.m.

Stanford (31-2), which earned a No. 1 seed for the fourth straight year, opens the tournament Sunday at 2:20 p.m. against 16th-seeded Tulsa (17-16) in the first round at Maples Pavilion. Michigan and Villanova, both 21-10, will meet in the other first-round game at Stanford. The winners will play Tuesday for a berth in the Sweet 16 in Spokane.

Barring any upsets Stanford and Cal are on a collision course for their third meeting of the season. The schools split their Pac-12 Conference games this season. The local rivals could meet April 1 in Spokane for a shot at a Final Four bid.

*****

Click here for staff writer Elliott Almond’s story on how Cal & Stanford are on a collision course for the Spokane regional final.

“I would say it’s much closer to a road game than a neutral-site game,” said UNLV coach Dave Rice, whose team was just 6-6 in road games.

“We just have to concentrate on the fact that we’re playing a terrific Cal team and we’re playing them in San Jose. We just have to deal with it.”

The Bears (20-11) and Runnin’ Rebels (25-9) tip off at 4:27 p.m. Thursday — their third meeting in two seasons.

Click here to read the rest of my story.

Even if you don’t have tickets for Thursday’s games in San Jose, you can enjoy a taste of March Madness by attending Wednesday’s practice sessions.

Here is the schedule, free and open to the public at HP Pavilion:

Noon-12:40 p.m. New Mexico State

12:45-1:25 p.m. Oregon

1:30-2:10 p.m. Saint Louis

2:15-2:55 p.m. Oklahoma State

4:25-5:05 p.m. UNLV

5:10-5:50 p.m. Syracuse

5:55-6:35 p.m. California

6:40-7:20 p.m. Montana

With thanks and credit to ESPN.com, we pass along this history lesson involving No. 12 seeds at the NCAA tournament. We’ll let you figure out how it applies to Cal:

– Lower seeds holding their own
Not counting the First Four games, 12- and 13-seeds have combined to win 21 games in the past five years (six in 2008, five in 2009, three in 2010, three in 2011, four in 2012).

– Obligatory note about the danger 12-seeds pose
It’s one of the first things that comes to mind upon first glance at the bracket: Which 12-seed is going to beat a 5-seed in the round of 64? There’s a good reason for that. Excluding the First Four games, 12-seeds have won at least one game in 22 of the past 24 years (no wins in 2000 or 2007), and at least two games in 11 of the past 12 years.

– If you’re looking for a Sweet 16 sleeper, go with a 12-seed
Since 1985, in only three years have No. 12 seeds failed to win a round-of-64 game (1988, 2000, 2007). Going a step further, No. 12s have reached the Sweet 16s as many times as 7-seeds (19), more often than 11-seeds (15), more often than 8- and 9-seeds combined (14) and just two fewer times than No. 10s have (21).

– Stop at one, though!
Don’t get overzealous, expecting multiple 12s to get to the Sweet 16. Even with the relative success No. 12 seeds have had, only once have two 12s reached the Sweet 16 in the same year (2008).

– No. 12s not worthy of ‘Elite’ status
No. 12 seeds are 1-18 in Sweet 16 games, with Missouri in 2002 the only one to go any further. That year, the Tigers lost in the Elite Eight to second-seeded Oklahoma.

From UNLV coach Dave Rice, courtesy of the UNLV sports information department:

“We have great respect for Cal and coach Mike Montgomery. They have a hall of fame coach and terrific players. I had an opportunity to watch them a number of times after we faced them and they played great basketball during the Pac-12 Conference schedule.

“Both programs are familiar with each other, having played the last two years. We know how good they are on both ends of the court and how well they play together. We’ll certainly have our hands full. It’s a tremendous challenge but also a great opportunity to be playing in the NCAA Tournament.”

Click here to watch a video of Rice talking about the matchup and his UNLV team.

The NCAA has announced start times for tournament games, and Cal’s opening-round contest vs. UNLV on Thursday tips off at 4:27 p.m. PDT. at HP Pavilion.

The game will be televised on truTV.

The rest of the Thursday schedule at San  Jose:

– No. 4 Saint Louis vs. New Mexico State tips off at 11:10 a.m. PDT. The game will be aired on TNT.

– No. 12 Oregon’s game vs. Oklahoma State tips off at 1:40 p.m. PDT. The game will be aired on TNT.

– No. 4 Syracuse vs. Montana tips off at 6:57 p.m. PDT. The game will be aired on truTV.

Here are some other key start times:

– Saint Mary’s vs. Middle Tennessee State in a ”First Four” game Tuesday at Dayton, Ohio, tips at 6:10 p.m. PDT. The game will be aired on truTV.

–Top-seeded Gonzaga’s game vs. Southern on Thursday at Salt Lake City tips off at 1:10 p.m. PST. The game will be aired on TBS.

– No. 6 Arizona’s game vs. Belmont on Thursday at Salt Lake City tips off at 4:20 p.m. PDT.  The game will be aired on TNT.

– Pacific’s game vs. No. 2 Miami on Friday in Austin, Texas, tips at 11:10 a.m. PDT. The game will be aired on TNT.

– No. 10 Colorado’s game vs. Illinois on Friday at Austin, Texas, tips at 1:40 p.m. PDT. The game will be aired on TNT.

– No. 6 UCLA’s game vs. Minnesota on Friday at Austin, Texas, tips at 6:57 p.m. PDT. The game will be aired on truTV.

My colleague Jon Wilner explains why Cal — originally slated for a No. 11 seed — and Oregon both wound up in the No. 12 slot. It was a matter of logistics and how the NCAA selection committee settles those issues.

Click here for Jon’s blog post, including a 1 through 68 list of how the committee ranked the teams in the field. (In case you’re impatient, Cal ranked No. 42).

Besides Cal, here’s how the Pac-12 fared on Selection Sunday:

NCAA Tournament

– Arizona (25-7) was seeded No. 6 and will play No. 11 Belmont (26-6) in the West Regional on Thursday at Salt Lake City.

– Colorado (21-11) was seeded No. 10 and will play No. 7 Illinois (22-12) in the East Regional on Friday at Austin, Texas.

– Pac-12 tournament champion Oregon (26-8) was seeded No. 12 and will play No. 5 Oklahoma State (24-8) in the Midwest Regional on Thursday at San Jose.

– Pac-12 regular-season champ UCLA (25-9) was seeded No. 6 and will play No. 11 Minnesota (20-12) in the South Regional on Friday at Austin, Texas.

NIT

– Defending NIT champion Stanford (18-14) will host Stephen F. Austin (27-4) on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

– Washington (18-15) will visit BYU (21-11) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

– Arizona State (21-12) will host Detroit (20-12) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Cal got what it needed most out of NCAA Selection Sunday: Motivation.

Tabbed as a No. 12 seed, the Golden Bears get a rematch they relish against No. 5 UNLV in a Thursday “home” game at HP Pavilion in San Jose. It will be Cal’s first NCAA tournament game in the Pacific time zone in more than 50 years.

—————————————————————————————————

Cal-UNLV will tip off at 4:27 p.m. PDT on Thursday in San Jose

—————————————————————————————————

“When everybody is fired up and ready to go is when we’re at our best,” said Cal junior Allen Crabbe, the Pac-12 Player of the Year.

And he’s right. A year ago, the Bears were quickly shipped halfway across the country to face a South Florida team they knew little about, in a “First Four” game in Dayton, Ohio. They fell behind 36-13 at halftime and were on their way home before the main portion of the tournament began.

David Kravish, center, and teammates are excited about their NCAA assignment.

(Doug Duran/Staff Archives)

“We weren’t even mentally there,” Crabbe admitted.

They are jazzed about this game, a chance to square things against a UNLV team that beat them 76-75 in Berkeley on Dec. 9 when Quintrell Thomas turned a teammate’s air ball into the winning put-back shot with 1.2 seconds left.

“We want revenge,” senior Robert Thurman said. “The way they slipped out of our fingers last time was a fluke.”

Click here for the rest of this story.

Click here for Cal ticket information.