It's only a matter of time before the Golden Bears are ranked

January 6, 7:37 AMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

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Arizona State's James Harden, right,
looks to pass away from California's
Patrick Christopher during the second
half of an NCAA college basketball
game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2009, in
Berkeley, Calif.(AP Photo/Ben Margot)

The California Golden Bears haven't been more than an also-ran in so long, it's difficult to remember them having as much buzz about them for what they've actually done on the court, rather than what they could've done.  Even though it was the 2005-'06 season where they won 20 games and made the NCAA Tournament, it hasn't been since the 2002-'03 season that they were considered a possible contender to the thrown of NCAA men's basketball.

The '05-'06 squad had injury concerns and finished out the season losing three of their final five games and then after losing in the Pac-10 final to UCLA, they were one and done in the NCAA Tourney.  The '02-'03 team also lost three of their last five, but still tied the '93-'94 season with 13 Pac-10 wins on the year.  That year, they were knocked out of the Pac-10 semi's and made it to the second round NCAA's where they lost to Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  In other words, they lost on the road.

The '02-'03 team was the last time that the Bears finished the regular season as a ranked team (#20), but this season could see a new chapter of Cal basketball turn a corner that up until this week wasn't really considered - national attention.

After the upset victory over Arizona State, the Bears moved up in the polls from out of nowhere.  They are ranked #27 in the AP, #34 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, and #7 in CBSSports.com RPI rankings.  Joe Lunardi of ESPN Bracketology fame even has the Bears sitting as a sixth seed in the NCAA Tournament - they were an eighth seed in '02-'03.  The team they beat to get these high rankings, ASU dropped to #20 in the AP and #16 in the Coaches Polls.

With this much hype, Mike Montgomery is going to have his work cut out for him when it comes to tempering the excitement.  As he said after the victory over then #14 ASU:

This just means we did a nice job, we held homecourt.

These rankings prove the Bears did a little more than just that.

AP Top 25
RANK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS	LAST
1	Pittsburgh  (70)	14-0	1798	3
2	Duke	12-1	1660	5
3	North Carolina  (2)	13-1	1651	1
4	Wake Forest	13-0	1553	6
5	Connecticut	12-1	1474	2
6	Oklahoma	13-1	1358	4
7	Texas	11-2	1348	8
8	Michigan St.	11-2	1269	10
9	Georgetown	10-2	1208	11
10	UCLA	12-2	1162	12
11	Syracuse	14-1	1113	13
12	Clemson	14-0	968	20
13	Notre Dame	10-3	802	7
14	Purdue	11-3	774	9
15	Tennessee	9-3	533	14
16	Xavier	11-2	483	22
17	Boston College	13-2	453	NR
18	Marquette	13-2	436	NR
18	Villanova	12-2	436	15
20	Arizona St.	12-2	374	17
21	Butler	12-1	341	25
22	Minnesota	13-1	290	21
23	Baylor	12-2	289	19
23	Louisville	9-3	289	18
25	West Virginia	11-2	230	NR
Others receiving votes: Michigan 153, California 122, Arkansas 109, Illinois 108, Gonzaga 86, Wisconsin 86, Memphis 67, Davidson 56, Saint Mary's, Calif. 50, UNLV 43, Illinois St. 39, Kansas 37, Ohio St. 28, Texas A&M 27, Maryland 25, Dayton 22, Florida 13, Florida St. 13, BYU 12, Miami 8, Missouri 4. First-place votes in parentheses

Dropped out:  No. 17 Gonzaga, No. 23 Ohio State, No. 24 Michigan.

Others receiving votes:  Dayton (13-1) 54; Illinois State (14-0) 50; Michigan (11-3) 49; Saint Mary's (13-1) 43; Ohio State (10-2) 40; Memphis (10-3) 37; Brigham Young (11-2) 34; Illinois (13-2) 34; California (13-2) 31; Davidson (10-2) 31; Arkansas (11-1) 27; Gonzaga (8-4) 27; Wisconsin (11-3) 26; Texas A&M (13-1) 22; Missouri (12-2) 21; Florida (12-2) 11; UNLV (13-2) 11; LSU (12-1) 10; Kansas (10-3) 7; Stanford (11-1) 5; Florida State (13-2) 1; Maryland (11-2) 1; Utah State (12-1) 1; Washington (10-3) 1.

CBSSports.com RPI

1 Pittsburgh

2 Duke

3 Butler

4 Clemson

5 Xavier

6 Michigan State

7 California

8 Miami (Ohio)

9 Oklahoma

10 Connecticut

11 West Virginia

12 Florida State

13 North Carolina

14 Ohio State

15 Davidson

16 Syracuse

17 Illinois

18 Tennessee

18 Wisconsin

20 Texas

20 Georgetown

22 Arizona State

23 Evansville

24 Boston College

25 Villanova

(01/06/2009) at 08:28 EST

Christopher named U.S. Bank Pac-10 Men's Basketball Player of the Week for Dec. 29 - Jan. 4

With as well as Jerome Randle has played this season, it's been easy to forget that he's not alone.  Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hanson helped remind us yesterday when he announced that Patrick Christopher had been named as the Pac-10's Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week leading up to January 4, 2009.

For the week, Christopher scored more than 20 against both Arizona schools and averaged 21.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and gave the Bears another much needed presence inside on offense.  In the eight weeks of the season, this is the second time that the Bears have had a player named as player of the week.  The first time was Randle two weeks ago.  It's also interesting to note that Christopher helped tie down the only Pac-10 player to win the award twice this year, James Harden of ASU.  Harden won the award two weeks in a row from November 18 - December 1.