Cal and Stanford kick off the first game of the late session at the Pac 12 tournament and the game is a big one for both teams. For Stanford they need the win to keep any postseason hopes alive. For Cal, a win likely cements the Bears as the one sure thing in the Pac-12.
After spending most of the year on top of the Pac-12 conference, Cal stumbled late and let the championship slip away to the Washington Huskies. Despite all that Cal headed into the postseason as the one team that had the easiest path off the NCAA tournament bubble. All season long Cal has been viewed the team most likely to earn an at-large bid out of the Pac-12 conference and with Washington's loss to Oregon State that is probably the case more than ever.
With a win over Stanford tonight the Bears would move to 24-9 overall, and they would appear to have padded the resume enough to lock things up. Then the only other order of business this weekend would be winning the Pac-12 tournament, but it wouldn't be a pressure packed situation.
Cal split the season series with the Cardinal with both teams winning their respective home games.
For more on the Golden Bears, head over to California Golden Blogs. For the Stanford side of things, make sure to check out Rule of Tree.