Cal's ACC Schedule Ahead Provides a Path to the NCAA Tournament

Cal coach Mark Madsen understands there are no easy games in the ACC. “In this conference, there’s never a night off,” he said.

On Wednesday, for instance, the Bears host a Georgia Tech team that is 11-11 overall and just 2-7 in conference play but showed mettle in four games against upper-division ACC teams.

The Yellow Jackets beat NC State on the road, trailed No. 20 Clemson by just two points at halftime and lost by six points on the road against No. 4 Duke and Virginia Tech.

So win-loss records don’t always tell the whole story. But they are the bottom line and using that measuring stick at the halfway point of the ACC schedule suggests Cal has completed the tougher portion of its conference schedule and is about to embark on a somewhat more forgiving final nine games.

For the Bears (16-6, 4-5), who are seeking their first winning season since 2017 and their first NCAA tournament bid since the year before that, the landscape going forward is encouraging, if not altogether smooth.

The nine teams Cal already has faced in ACC play have a combined conference record of 47-26. The next nine are a combined 29-50. No. 20 Clemson (18-4, 8-1), which visits Haas Pavilion on Saturday, is the only team left on the calendar with a winning ACC ledger.

The first nine included seven teams among the top 70 in the NET computer rankings, five of them in the top 25 of that metric. The remainder of the schedule features just two more top-70 opponents, none of them higher than No. 31 Clemson, which has won 11 of its past 12 games, with only an overtime loss to NC State.

Cal currently resides at No. 51 in the NET.

Adding to that scenario is the fact that the Bears play five of their next seven games at home, where they are 13-2, with losses to No. 4 Duke and Louisville.

Five of their remaining games will be played against teams that currently have just two conference victories.

Madsen certainly is pleased with the progress his team has made on the heels of going 13-19 and 14-19 in his first two seasons after inheriting a program that was 3-29 the year before.

“We’re hoping for a nice long postseason opportunity,” Madsen said. “But we have to focus on the present right now. Our message is . . . focus everything on recovery, on preparation, on film, on exerting every ounce of energy on practice and the games.

“Exert yourself on the process of what we’re trying to do. If we do those things, we’re very hopeful.”

Here’s what Cal faces the remainder of the ACC schedule:

— Wednesday vs. Georgia Tech (11, 2-7) at Haas

— Saturday vs. No. 20 Clemson (18-4, 8-1) at Haas

— Feb. 11 at Syracuse (13-9, 4-5)

— Feb. 14 at Boston College (9-12, 2-6)

— Feb. 21 vs. Stanford (14-8, 3-6) at Haas

— Feb. 25 vs. SMU (15-6, 4-4) at Haas

— Feb. 28 vs. Pitt (9-13, 2-7) at Haas

— March 4 at Georgia Tech (11-11, 2-7)

— March 7 at Wake Forest (11-11, 2-7)

NOTE: Madsen provided no update on the status of injured starting center Lee Dort, who missed both the Florida State and Miami road games last weekend. He did say sophomore DK Dut, who made key plays and scored the winning basket at Miami, has earned additional playing time.

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