So I've been gone for....about a full month now. In the time I've missed, the Bears have placed themselves right at the top of the lowly Pac-10 at 10-5. The conference title is still far from decided and every game counts from here on out, but the big one will be on Saturday against Arizona State. The Sun Devils are right behind California at 9-5, and travel to Berkeley Saturday night.

Jerome Randle has been magnificent this year, and as such has put himself in the running for Pac-10 Player of the Year. Well, he's definitely the MVP of the Bears, and along with Theo Robertson, Patrick Christopher, and Jamal Boykin they have the Bears in position to win their first Pac-10 title since 1960. Yes, that's right Bear fans, no Rose Bowl since the 50's and no Pac-10 basketball title since the 60's. You'd have thought that the league couldn't have shaped up any easier for us, as we returned 4 senior starters and the Pac-10 is straight awful. The fact that we're in this hunt however, has me excited and I just hope that Montgomery can get us playing well enough to pull this thing out. As has been the case all season, the Bears need to get hot from outside to have a chance and Randle, PC, and Theo have to have big games. We've got two games at home this week against Arizona and ASU, and then the season finale on The Farm; could this be the year?

From TideSports.com:

Turns out the rumor mill and the message boards were right this time. Five-star football prospect Keenan Allen, an elite safety who had verbally committed to Alabama in November, said this morning that he'll attend the University of California at Berkley instead.

In the week leading up to National Signing Day, word began to get out that Allen was considering Clemson. Last weekend, he reportedly visited California with his half-brother, quarterback Zach Maynard, who decided to transfer from the University of Buffalo when head coach Turner Gill took the job as head coach at Kansas. Penn State was even being mentioned as a possible destination for Allen, the nation's top-rated safety according to recruiting analysts for Scout.com and Rivals.com.

"If Turner Gill doesn't leave Buffalo we aren't having this conversation," said Otis Yelverton, who aided Allen during the recruiting process.

Yelverton said Wednesday that he has received death threats from Alabama football fans.

Allen's mother, Doria Lang, was asked if the family plans to move to California now.

"I don't know that yet," she said.

Lang and Yelverton had a Tuscaloosa News correspondent removed from the restaurant where the signing ceremony was held after the question about the family moving was asked.

Where does this development leave Alabama? Without the 6-foot-2, 194-pound Allen, the national champions slipped to No. 4 in the latest 2010 recruiting class rankings of both Scout.com and Rivals.com going into signing day. In fact, the latter service inserted archrival Auburn's haul at third overall.

"That'll probably cause the (message) boards to explode," Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Barry Every said before Allen's announcement at a downtown restaurant in Greensboro.

Every, however, said the Crimson Tide should be fine despite the late setback.

"They're pretty stacked at safety, to be honest," he said.

In this year's recruiting class alone, Alabama is bringing in two four-star safeties, in-state prospects Jarrick Williams and Nick Perry. The Tide also snagged five-star cornerback DeMarcus Milliner, who at about 6-2 has a 50-50 chance of moving to free safety, according to Every.

Neither Every nor Scout.com analyst Chad Simmons could see Alabama head coach Nick Saban going so far as to offer Allen's half-brother a scholarship just to lure the higher-rated player. It's not clear yet how big a factor that relationship was in Allen's decision.

Simmons said he wasn't sure the Alabama coaching staff would "reach" for another prospect just to fill Allen's scholarship spot.

"Bama's going to be satisfied with their class even if they land nobody else," Simmons said.

After years of lawsuits, protesters, tree-sitters and nay-sayers, the UC Regents finally approved plans to renovate Cal's Memorial Stadium. The stadium has fallen victim to time and erosion, as the facade is badly worn and facilities are among the worst in not only the Pac-10, but the nation. With the renovation, Cal will be on a much more even playing field in terms of facilities and that impacts recruiting immensely. As a freshman in 2004, I remember that the Student Athlete High Performance Center was supposed to break ground, however, that just happened within the past few months. To finally have the stadium plans approved is a massive accomplishment that should benefit our University and Athletics Department for years to come.

The University will use a unique financing model in order to fund the $320 million renovation. From the San Jose Mercury News, "The school will use a scheme with roots in the NFL to finance the project. The university will borrow the $320 million and pay it back over 30 years with the help of seat licenses, which fans buy for life and pay off annually. The money raised by the licenses, a concept used by the National Football League, would collect interest in an endowment. Those profits — which university officials hope will outpace interest on the borrowed money — would pay off the loan if all goes as planned. " It's important to note that no public money is being used to finance this project so all the risk is held by the University. Hopefully, with the market being so low right now Cal is getting in at the bottom and will benefit from the interest from the endowment.

I hear the complaints that it's built on the Hayward Fault and an earthquake is bound to happen along the fault line, but in its current state the stadium is straight up dangerous. It would fold like a demolition project if the fault line moved no, so anything to shore up the shakiness is good in my book. People have yelled about moving it, but I'm not sure where we would put a huge 60,000 seat stadium in the city of Berkeley, especially without pissing off more people. It is what it is, this is the best scenario given the location and resources available.

Well, talk about a roller coaster win! After leading comfortably for most of the game, the Bears decided to make things interesting by falling apart against the Oregon State press. If there was one thing we learned today, it was that Cal does not handle a full or half court press very effectively, and surprisingly, the culprit was All Pac-10 guard Jerome Randle. Randle consistently made poor decisions and left his feet when double teamed, resulting in several turnovers that allowed the Beavers to cut a 15 point lead down to 2. Why did he keep stepping through every double team and then jumping?! When he's in the air, he's a weak 5-7 PG who can't make good passes, and the Beavers took full advantage of Randle's mistakes. Towards the end Monty even pulled his senior guard, despite his 91% free-throw percentage, in favor of no-offense Jorge Gutierrez. Other than Theo Robertson, most of the Bears looked extremely uncomfortable against the press and that worries me. Don't get me wrong, all the blame does not rest on Randle, as Patrick Christopher continued his boom or bust streak with only 8 points and we were even on the boards at 32 apiece. Despite the near collapse, the Golden Bears escaped Haas Pavilion with a 65-61 victory. We're sitting atop the Pac-10 at 5-2, followed by several teams (Arizona St. the best of them) at 4-3.

The Bears take on the Sun Devils this Thursday in a showdown of the Pac-10's two best teams...keep in mind the Pac-10 has a lower RPI than the WAC.

Going into the matchup against Oregon I was a bit scared as they had just beaten Washington (whom we lost to) and their big 6-10 center, Michael Dunnigan, was poised to eat up our small frontcourt. Add in soon-to-be all time Pac-10 3 point shooter Tajuan Porter and the Ducks have a menacing inside-outside attack. Thursday night at Haas Pavilion however, belong to the Bears. Patrick Christopher decided that he'd awake from his slumber (in the 1st half at least) and scored 14 straight to jump start the Bears to an early lead. Christopher scored all 21 of his points in the first half, and despite an off performance by leading scorer Jerome Randle (11 points), the Bears easily coasted behind Christopher's 21 and Theo Robertson's 18 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Dunnigan was held to only 9 points, and Porter was a non-factor with only 6 while the Ducks struggled all night to find any consistency. The game was sloppy, with a lot of fast breaks off of turnovers but a blowout conference win is always welcomed. Sitting atop the conference tied with Arizona State at 4-2 is a nice position thus far, but we're going to need more consistency and inside play to make a serious run at the conference title. The way the Pac-10 is shaping up, it's going to be a wild ride to the finish, and if one team gets hot, they could really run away with this thing.

Powered by Jerome Randle's career high 39 points, the Golden Bears defeated the Washington State Cougars in Pullman, Washington Thursday night 93-88. While I didn't get to watch the game because of the lack of TV coverage, from what I read the game was never really that close as we jumped out to a 20 point lead to begin the game and then went on another run at the start of the second half. Randle led all scorers by hitting 7-10 three-pointers, while Patrick Christopher added 21 and Jamal Boykin had 16. This was a big win, as WSU had been playing pretty well, and it was our first Pac-10 road game. Add in the disappointing finish at home against UCLA and it was a nice test of character for our squad to get a Pac-10 win in Pullman to keep the Bears at 3-1 and in 1st place.

I'm really surprised and disappointed by the lack of talent in the Pac-10 this season. We're all going to finish around 9-9 in the league if things keep playing out the way they have thus far. Washington has been a huge disappointment thus far, as they sit at 2-3 in conference play with losses to Oregon, Arizona and Arizona State. The Bears and Huskies will showdown in Seattle on Saturday, in what was supposed to be a matchup of the top teams in the Pac-10. It'll be interesting to see what Huskies squad shows up, and if the Bears can keep up their hot three-point shooting. We live and die by the three, so if we can't get it going (i.e. Randle, Christopher, Robertson) we'll be in trouble. At least Jamal Boykin has proven to be more of an inside power than he was last year, but still without a true post player and dominant big man, the Bears will rely upon their three guards and their shooting strokes.

Cal basketball is now in full-swing as the Pac-10 season opened up at Haas Pavilion Saturday against rival Stanfurd. The Cardinal are a struggling team this season, as second year head coach Johnny Dawkins really only has one player, Landry Fields, and a bunch of role players. Saturday, it was clear that if Fields isn't hitting his shots, the Cardinal are going to be in trouble. The Bears wiped the floor with the Cardinal, defeating them 92-66 behind Jerome Randle's 24 points and 7 assists. What might be the most important thing to take away from this game however, is the continued development of sophomore center Max Zhang. The 7"3' Zhang had a career high 13 points to go along with four rebounds and 3 blocks (and countless other shot alterations). What Cal seriously lacks to take it to the next level is a consistent inside force; after the three guards (Randle, Christopher, Robertson) and forward Jamal Boykin, the Bears are pretty much comprised of role players. If Zhang can become a consistent performer on the front line, the Bears will be much more difficult to defeat and their Pac-10 Championship chances will grow. Getting off to a strong Pac-10 start is key if this team wants to contend with Washington for the Pac-10 title, next up are UCLA and USC at home.

Disappointing news for all Bears fans came on Saturday, as junior tailback Jahvid Best declared his intention to leave Berkeley and enter the NFL Draft. #4 was a dynamic and electrifying player for the Bears, who all too often was on the sidelines due to injury. Whenever he touched the ball, he was a threat to score, and nobody could match his blazing speed or quickness. In his limited 3 years, Best was a pleasure to watch and listen to as he was at the forefront of the Bears' push to get to the top of the Pac-10. It is sad to see him leave after what seems like a brief career in Berkeley, but after his horrific fall against Oregon State the man has a career to watch out for and money to earn; it's selfish for me to want him to return. Here's a great article from Dr. Saturday that epitomizes my feelings about Jahvid:

"It's too soon to tell whether Jahvid Best's three-year stay at California will be remembered mainly for his spectacular play, or for its spectacularly disturbing ending, when Best crashed head-first into the end zone from at least six feet off the turf after a goal-line leap against Oregon State in November. The junior speedster confirmed on Saturday that that play (which kept him out of the Bears' last three regular season games and their bowl loss to Utah with a concussion and lingering back pain) was in fact his last as an amateur, and it may take becoming a household name in the NFL to erase it as the defining moment of his career -- if only because, as one of the top three or four running backs in the upcoming draft, his failure to become a household name could be traced directly to that frightening moment.

As for what came before, there's something slightly unfulfilled about Best's potential, thanks to a combination of nagging injuries, an inability to fully shed the "track star" label by establishing himself as an every-down workhorse (as his East Coast doppelganger, C.J. Spiller, was able to do this year at Clemson) and a tendency to disappear in his team's biggest games -- in six career games against the Pac-10's other top programs, USC and Oregon, Best averaged 54 all-purpose yards and never went over 100 as the Bears went 2-4. But it's hard to make that argument by the overall numbers: After biding his time as a backup and special teams ace as a true freshman, Best led the Pac-10 in yards from scrimmage as a sophomore and leaves with just over 4,000 career all-purpose yards and 35 touchdowns in essentially two seasons of work. If he'd remained healthy this year, he'd have easily threatened 1,400 yards on the ground alone.

More importantly, it's hard to make another argument that Best isn't one the elite backs in America if you actually watched him with the ball in his hands, which too few people actually did (thanks, East Coast bias/lame Pac-10 television contract). Anyone who saw him burn Tennessee for 103 all-purpose yards in his first game, or scorch a trail through Miami for his fourth straight 200-yard game in the '08 Emerald Bowl, or his five-touchdown explosion at Minnesota in September, will only remember their disbelief that he wasn't touching the ball on almost every snap. There are more consistent stars and more productive backs, but there are only a handful of players at any given time who have the potential to thrill (or, if you're in the opposing camp, terrify) you every time they touch the ball. For his day, let it be said that no one could out-highlight Jahvid Best."

The Cal Bears disappointing season ended with a loud thud in the Poinsettia Bowl, where the Utah Utes pasted the Bears 37-27. The game was a microcosm of the season, as Cal jumped out to a 14-0 lead after an impressive offensive drive and a pick-six by LB Eddie Young, but then the offense stalled and the defense was exposed by the Utes passing attack. True freshman Jordan Wynn led the Utes to the victory, passing for 338 yards and making yet another statement for the Mountain West Conference, which overall had an impressive bowl season. For the Bears, it is yet another season with high expectations that were unfulfilled and it was the end of our 4 game bowl winning streak. QB Kevin Riley and a good amount of the offense will be returning next year, but our defense will be losing Syd'Quan Thompson and LB Eddie Young, as well as a few others. It remains to be seen whether or not our last image of dynamic RB Jahvid Best will be of him being carted off the field at Memorial Stadium, but I am half hoping that Jahvid wants one last crack at pushing the Bears over the hump. Consistency needs to be a bigger emphasis for next season, as our Jekyll and Hyde season was very frustrating.

After being very impressive in last year's bowl matchups, the Pac-10 as a whole finished a disappointing 2-4. USC defeated Boston College and UCLA had a come from behind victory over Temple, while the Bears, Beavers, Ducks, and Cardinal all lost their bowl games.