Cal Women Drop Out of the Top 25 -- Barely

Golden Bears basketball team falls out of the rankings for the first time since mid-December

Cal's Michelle Onyiah (left) battles Notre Dame's Maddy Westbeld for a rebound in Sunday's game in South Bend, Indiana / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cal's women's basketball team has lost two games in a row and three of its last four causing the Golden Bears to drop out of the AP top-25 released Monday.

However, there is still plenty of respect for Cal (19-6, 7-5 ACC) from the AP voters because the Bears barely missed being ranked. Baylor earned the No. 25 spot in the poll by earning 48 voting points, but Cal is next in line with 38 voting points, which would put the Bears at No. 26 if the rankings were extended that far.

Cal's highest ranking this season was No. 18 on January 13, and the Bears had been in the top-25 every week since entering the top-25 at No. 24 on December 16. They were ranked No. 21 last week.

(A coaches top-25 poll was not released Monday.)

Cal still seems to be in good position to land an NCAA tournament berth. ESPN's Bracketology had the Bears as a No. 7 seed in the tournament before the Bears faced Nortre Dame on the road on Sunday. And even though Cal was completely outplayed in a 39-point loss to Notre Dame, that result probably did not drastically affect Cal's standing for the NCAA tournament, since the Irish are ranked No. 2 in the country at the moment.

Cal will try to get back on the winning track this week when the Bears host Boston College on Thursday and Syracuse on Sunday.

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