GAME INFO​

Who: Cal (12-14, 5-10 ACC; last game: 90-88 OT loss to Georgia Tech) at Stanford (16-10, 8-7; last game: 106-70 loss to Duke)
When: 7:00 p.m. PT
Where: Stanford, California | Maples Pavilion
TV/streaming: ESPN2 | Roxy Bernstein (PxP) & Scott Williams (Analyst)
Radio: 810 AM | Justin Allegri (PxP), Theo Robertson (Analyst)
All-time series: Cal leads 154-132; last meeting: Stanford win, 89-81 (Dec. 7)
Odds: Stanford (-6.5), O/U (148.5) – via BetMGM

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Jayden Crowder won the DB MVP award at the Rivals Camp in LA back in the spring and it put him on the radar for many programs around the country. Tennessee, Penn State, Washington, SMU, Miami, Duke and Syracuse were just some of the teams that became involved in the process with offers. He's emerged as one of the top defensive backs in the state and now he'll play at Cal.

Crowder spoke with me about his decision and why the win over Stanford (highlighted by the player/coach reaction following the visit) helped pushed Cal ahead of those other schools.

"My past visits were incredible, and they truly made my family and I feel like part of the program," Crowder said. "The staff went above and beyond to ensure we felt comfortable and welcome. This week only reinforced my positive impression, especially seeing the team’s strong win over Stanford and witnessing the close bond between the players and coaches."

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Per Rivals analyst Sam Spiegelman, Cal has set up June official visits with a pair of recruits from Thomas Central County High School today. The Bears offered four-star offensive lineman Artem Korchagin back in the fall to become just the second program on his list, and high three-star edge rusher Omari Stephenson added an offer from the Bears this month. The two teammates have now set their official visits to Cal for the same weekend, June 13.

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This shouldn't come as a surprise and is more of a formality than anything, but Terrence Brown has officially received the defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator position on Justin Wilcox's staff. Brown will presumably be the leader of the secondary group with Allen Brown helping him on the back end. Tre Watson was in a similar position previously so it only makes sense that Brown is elevated as the senior member of the staff.

In addition to TB being promoted, defensive assistant Mike Bruno is now officially the inside linebackers coach for the Bears. Bruno has become Peter Sirmon's right-hand man and was previously with the Bears from 2018-21 before stints at UNLV and Minot State. He returned to the team last year and essentially was the inside linebackers coach already. He presumably will hold many of the same duties after already working closely with the inside linebackers last season. During spring ball and camp, Bruno pretty much runs all the drills so this will help him be even more hands on and give Sirmon some relief to pay attention to other groups.

The new rules the NCAA put into place last year that allow more on-field coaches mean the promotions can now take place. Bruno has already been active on the recruiting trail going back to last month, and he should continue to provide plenty of support there as well. He's definitely earning a reputation as a strong recruiter.

A very good article that gives us some hope that JW will decide to return with Drej, JOJ, BJ and Lee (with likely returning CJ and Spencer).

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High three-star tight end Taimane Purcell has set an official visit with Cal for the weekend of May 29. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound prospect from the Kamehameha School in Honolulu also set an official visit with Oklahoma State today. That one will take place early on April 4-6. He added an offer from USC on Monday while programs such as Oregon, Tennessee, Nebraska, Florida, Michigan State and UCLA are also part of his offer list.

The Bears hosted Purcell on campus for a visit during the season when he made it out to watch Cal host Syracuse.

Cal has continued to ramp up its recruiting efforts in Hawaii on the heels of the success it had in the 2025 cycle adding three players from the state including quarterback Jaron Sagapolutele.

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Official visits won't take place until the spring, but one of the top edge rushers in the 2026 class has already set up a handful of his trips that will take place later this year. Cal is among the group for four-star defensive end Camron Brooks with the Bears already penciled in to host the Georgia native during the second week of June.

The other three schools already locked in with official visits are also from the ACC with Clemson, Florida State and Miami being the other programs that have set official visits with the 6-foot-4 defensive end.

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USC has decided it will follow the lead of Nebraska, Ohio State and others in going away from a spring game this year. It's an interesting move by programs to combat presumed tampering by other schools. With the spring transfer window opening up April 16, programs seemingly do not want to have their teams on display to allow other teams to see the players and make a push for them to enter the portal. That point is what was brought up explicitly by Matt Rhule at Nebraska. Texas and Steve Sarkisian joined the fray today by announcing that the Longhorns will also not be having a spring game or showcase of any sort.

USC is opting to have a "fan appreciation" event in the summer to give fans an opportunity to meet the team but that is obviously not the same as seeing the players in action on the field.

One of my favorite parts of covering Cal is that I actually get to see football because of the open practices. USC is closing up its practices (something it enacted last season) as teams begin to go on full lockdown mode. The Bears have not officially announced their plans for the final practice of the spring though in recent years Cal has wrapped up spring ball with their showcase event that is mostly a scrimmage but partly a regular practice as well. It's not a true spring game, so the Bears have been ahead of the curve in a way.

It is all very interesting to see what is going on across the landscape. Cal actually gets a solid crowd for its spring showcase, so it will be interesting to see if that remains in place as more and more programs are looking like they will not be holding them moving forward.

The college game is changing and more teams are going to an NFL "OTA" type of approach for the spring, and that has brought about the recent change along with the concerns about tampering.

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I watched Madden Soliai at the Polynesian Bowl and he was impressive. He's undersized but doesn't play like it and was all over the field making plays left and right against a good group of receivers. Cal was one of his early offers, and the Bears have continued to prioritize the 5-foot-10 cornerback recruit in the 2026 cycle. Famika Anae and Mike Bruno made it out to Hawaii last month for an in-home visit, and the Bears have done a good job of staying in his ear.

He's not moving quickly through the process but having a couple teammates now on the roster at Cal will certainly help the Bears. Utah is the biggest competition right now, but Cal will remain in the mix as he pushes forward in the process.

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Another future Cal official visit to pass along as the Bears remain proactive in setting up trips for June with priority targets in the 2026 class.

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https://images.rivals.com/image/upload/uny1kpw8iz1hx8bjyy7y?t=1739899939108

Even though I am immersed in Cal's MBB team in recent years, I had season tickets for many decades for Cal football and the Oakland Raiders. My parents for decades had season tickets to the football NY Giants, and I attended at least 100 games in Yankee Stadium with them, including the famous sudden death championship game against the Colts with Johnny U, Alan Amache, Raymond Berry, etc.

I have been a close friend of Dave (the Ghost) Casper for the past 40 + years. Thanks to the Ghost, I attended his 2002 induction into the Pro Football HOF in Canton and his subsequent induction into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame which has caused his likeness on a plaque to be found at Gate 87 in United Airlines’ SFO terminal. I was invited to see the Ghost to be inducted into the Collegiate HOF in 2012, but I had a professional scheduling conflict that prevented me from attending.

While on the recent trip with Cal’s MBB team to see Duke in Durham and GT in Atlanta, my Cal hosts were kind enough to allow me to visit the Collegiate Football HOF in downtown Atlanta. I had promised the Ghost that I would do so and then look him up. I did as pictured. To be inducted into the Collegiate Football HOF, it is required that you had to be a first team All American. I sent such attached photo from the Collegiate HOF to the Ghost and his lovely wife, Susan, and inquired innocently why a tight end had been wearing the jersey number of 68. Susan immediately reacted, almost like Pavlov’s Dog, that such photo was of the Ghost as a sophomore or junior when he played offensive tackle, that the Collegiate HOF is in error using an outdated photo, and that the Ghost as a TE wore jersey numbered 86 as a senior when he was a first team All American at tight end and the Captain of Notre Dame’s national championship and undefeated (11-0) team that beat Alabama under Bear Bryant in the bowl game. BTW, the Ghost already in his youth as a junior was an honorable All American at offensive tackle. Susan seemingly now is motivated to correct that oversight after seeing from me what was intended to be just an innocuous photo that was being shared amongst friends. As usual, the very laid-back Ghost has been totally silent and probably is focused on consuming chili dogs at Dune Dog with his faithful lab companion, Molly, and fishing, his favorite pastime.

As noted above, the Ghost was a pre-season All American at OT before his senior year. He went to summer camp whereat almost all of ND’s TEs became injured. So, HC Ara Parseghian asked for volunteers to become the new TEs. Much to Ara’s horror his Captain and best offensive lineman volunteered insistently that he was the best man for that job and then proved to be by far the best person in ND’s summer camp for that job and later validated such selection as the best TE in the nation.

BTW, the Ghost has the largest hands I ever have seen which obviously helps him to catch the ball.

I am going to spend 2 weeks once again in South Hutchinson Island, FL with the Ghost next month to keep up our tradition.

The Ghost, a HOF pro player, was continuously applauded for his blocking skills by NFL announcers, many of whom were ignorant of the fact that he was a former blocking OT in high school and his sophomore and junior years at ND.

Unrolling a new feature that we hope to make a regular thing here, and in the first installment I decided to take an early look at the storylines to watch this spring following the announcement of the schedule today.

What other storylines have you intrigued heading into the 15 practices?

Rivals national analyst John Garcia Jr. recently put out his list of must-get recruits for each ACC program, and four-star local offensive tackle Tommy Tofi highlights the list for the Bears. I know there's still more offers to go out and visits to take place, but who are you viewing as an early "must get" recruit for Cal in the 2026 cycle?

Or if you're still learning the class, which positions do the Bears have to hit on in the current cycle?

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Spring ball is quickly approaching and the Bears are in the midst of their winter offseason conditioning work right now. Here's a little video the team put out providing a glimpse into the winter workouts.

With Matt M's gracious help I share some of my trip's photos at Duke and GT for your review.

I have no idea how to create links to show photos or videos as an old fart.

We'll soon get a better idea of more recruits Cal is going to be in position to land, but someone to keep a close eye on is Los Angeles-Loyola receiver Markus Kier. The staff has been heavily involved in recruiting him for a while now, and he made a visit back up to Berkeley earlier in the month before the dead period to get a better feel for the new offensive staff at Cal.

He had a chance meet Bryan Harsin and spend more time with Kyle Cefalo, and that was important as he had built a strong bond with Burl Toler III earlier in his recruitment. Kansas has put on a full-court press already and will be his first official visit in early June, but an official visit to Cal is expected to take place as well.

He's also planning to head back out for a spring visit, too. I spoke with Kier about the recent visit to Cal and where things stand with the Bears.

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Our allegedly direct charter flight from Atlanta to OAK now is in San Antonio for an hour to get fuel (WTF).

As you might imagine, the plane is very quiet. JW seems OK now physically but obviously is bummed to have missed critical PT due to his severe cramping

The team played very well but just not well enough to lose a heartbreaker at the buzzer

Game Info

Who: Cal (12-13, 5-9 ACC; last game: 78-57 loss to Duke) at Georgia Tech (12-13, 6-8; last game: 60-52 win over)
When: 1:00 p.m. PT
Where: Atlanta, Georgia | McCamish Pavilion
TV/streaming: ACC Network | Joel Godett (PxP), Michael Carter-Williams (Analyst)
Radio: 810 AM | Justin Allegri (PxP)
All-time series: Cal leads 3-0
Odds: GT (-3.5), O/U (143.5) – via BetMGM

Cal will look to avoid a 3-game losing streak and get back on the winning side Saturday afternoon when it takes on Georgia Tech in the lone meeting between the two teams this season. The Yellowjackets have earned wins in three of their last four games including victories over Louisville and Clemson when both were ranked 21st in the AP Top 25.

The positive news is that the Bears have won all three meetings against Georgia Tech in the history of the matchups.

Check back for updates and join the conversation once things tip off this afternoon.

The NFL combine invite list was released Thursday and Cal will be represented by four players in Indianapolis later this month. Linebacker Teddye Buchanan plus defensive backs Nohl Williams, Craig Woodson and Marcus Harris will all have their opportunity to perform in front of NFL scouts at the combine.

All four were part of the East West Shrine Game roster. OLB Xavier Carlton not making the list is a little bit of a surprise after his senior season and Hula Bowl performance.

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Game info

Who: Cal (12-12, 5-8 ACC; last game: 76-66 loss to Wake Forest) at No. 3 Duke (20-3, 12-1; last game: 77-71 loss to Clemson)
When: 6:00 p.m. PT
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium | Durham, North Carolina
TV/streaming: ACC Network | Wes Durham (PxP), Cory Alexander (Analyst), Jim Boeheim (Analyst)
Radio: 810 AM | Justin Allegri (PxP)
All-time series: Tied, 2-2
Odds: Duke (-23.5), O/U (143.5) – via BetMGM

The Bears are back in action tonight and will visit Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first time in program history. The all-time series between Cal and Duke is tied at two wins apiece but they have not met since late in 2019 with the Blue Devils winning that matchup, 87-52. The game was part of the 2K Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden, and the Blue Devils were ranked No. 1 at the time.

Follow along for updates tonight plus join in the conversation as the Bears open things up tonight in Durham.

Cal's MBB team had a great practice this morning after a lengthy film and scouting session. I was worried yesterday when the practice was held at Duke's fabulous and standalone practice facility, because we did not look sharp there (perhaps due to jet lag)_. It has rained continuously since we arrived, and it is cold.

We took a facilities' tour that was hosted by Duke's athletic department. As you might imagine, the MBB facilities are spectacular with wow locker room, players' lounge, etc. And at Cameron Indoor their is a great display of its numerous stars and championship. Duke MBB has its own separate museum which we missed due to not desiring to walk anymore in the rain to access it. The football facilities also were awesome with a huge locker room with each player having his own booth with all the amenities and with a very large weight room, players' lounge and entertainment center, dining area, and a training area that has just about every imaginal thing.

We are 23.5 underdogs tonight, so it is going to be interesting to witness in a capacity crowd with the Cameron Crazies in ful throat. After the game we will fly to Atlanta and likely get to our hotel there sometime after 2:30 a.m.