Cal Women Open Pac-12 Season at No. 2 Stanford

Cal women’s basketball team opens its Pac-12 season on Friday with what might be the most challenging game in America – a road game against Stanford. OK, maybe a road game against No. 1 South Carolina would be more difficult, but it’s close.

Eight Pac-12 teams have already begun conference play, but Cal’s first two opponents, Stanford and Arizona, have yet to play Pac-12 games.

Cal is 9-2, which suggests the Bears might be better than 11th-best team in the Pac-12, which was where they were picked in the preseason coaches poll. However, they entered conference play with a 10-2 mark last year and went 2-10 in the conference, with one of the wins being a forfeit.

Here's a look at the Pac-12 in predicted order of finish:

1. Stanford (12-1, 0-0 Pac-12)

AP ranking: 2

NET ranking: 3

Preseason coaches poll predicted finish: First

Latest ESPN Bracketology NCAA tournament projection: No. 1 seed

Next opponent: Cal (Friday)

Comment: The Cardinal has two of the top six players in the country, according to an ESPN rankings – No. 5 Cameron Brink and No. 6 Haley Jones.

2. Utah (11-0, 1-0 Pac-12)

AP ranking: 12

NET Ranking: 6

Preaseson coaches poll predicted finish: Fifth

Latest ESPN Bracketology NCAA Tournament projection: No. 3 seed

Next opponent: Southern Utah (Thursday). Next Pac-12 opponent: Washington State (Dec. 30)

Comment: Utes are the only unbeaten Pac-12 team and they are second in the nation in scoring (92.7 points per game). We’re still marveling at that 124-78 victory over then-No. 16 Oklahoma back on Nov. 16.

3. UCLA (12-1, 1-0 Pac-12)

AP ranking: 11

NET ranking: 25

Preseason coaches poll predicted finish: Fourth

Latest ESPN Bracketology NCAA tournament projection: No. 3 seed

Next opponent: Oregon (Dec . 30)

Comment: The Bruins’ Charisma Osborne is averaging 18.1 points and is ranked the 15th-best player in the country by ESPN.

4. Oregon (10-2, 1-0 Pac-12)

AP ranking: 16

NET Ranking: 10

Preseason coaches poll predicted finish: Second

Latest ESPN Bracketology NCAA Tournament projection: No. 4 seed

Next opponent: UCLA (Dec. 30)

Comment: Endyia Rogers had 34 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the win over Washington State, and she is hitting 50% of her three-point shots.

5. Arizona (10-1, 0-0 Pac-12)

AP ranking: 18

NET ranking: 29

Preseason coaches poll predicted finish: Third

Latest ESPN Bracketology NCAA Tournament projection: No. 5 seed

Next opponent: Arizona State (Dec. 29)

Comment: That 21-point win over then-No. 18 Baylor in Dallas on Sunday was impressive. Jade Loville hit 4-of-5 three-point shots in that game and is making 51.0% from distance for the season.

6. Colorado (10-3, 0-1 Pac-12)

AP ranking: Not ranked

NET ranking: 35

Preseason coaches poll predicted finish: Eighth

Latest ESPN Bracketology NCAA Tournament projection: Not in the field, but among the “First Four Out.”

Next opponent: Washington (Dec. 30)

Comment: The Buffaloes have faced two ranked opponents and those resulted in an 18-point loss to Tennessee and a 27-point road loss to Utah.

7. Washington State (10-2, 0-1 Pac-12)

AP ranking: Not ranked

NET ranking: 50

Preseason coaches poll predicted finish: Seventh

Latest ESPN Bracketology NCAA Tournament projection: Not in the field and not among first eight out

Next opponent: Utah (Dec. 30)

Comment: Charlisse Leger-Walker ranks 10th in the country in scoring at 21.1 points per game, and she scored 40 points in the Pac-12 opener against Washington.

8. Oregon State (7-4, 0-1 Pac-12)

AP ranking: Not ranked

NET Ranking: 63

Preseason coaches poll predicted finish: Sixth

Latest ESPN Bracketology NCAA Tournament projection: Not in the field or among first eight out

Next opponent: North Carolina Central (Dec. 27). Next Pac-12 opponent: USC (Dec. 30)

Comment: Beavers have played a challenging schedule, having faced three ranked teams. But Oregon State lost to all three and Sunday’s 32-point loss to LSU was not pretty.

9. USC (10-2, 0-1 Pac-12)

AP ranking: Not ranked

NET ranking: 45

Preseason coaches poll predicted finish: Ninth

Latest ESPN Bracketology NCAA Tournament projection: Not in the field, but among the “Next Four Out.”

Next opponent: Oregon State (Dec. 30)

Comment: Close loss to UCLA was encouraging after a soft nonconference schedule, but the next three games against Oregon State, Oregon and UCLA, all on the road, will tell us whether second-year coach Lindsay Gottlieb is starting to turn the program around.

10. California (9-2, 0-1 Pac-12)

AP ranking: Not ranked

NET ranking: 81

Preseason coaches poll predicted finish: 11th

Latest ESPN Bracketology NCAA Tournament projections: Not in the field or among the first eight out.

Next game: Stanford (Friday)

Comment: Jayda Curry’s scoring is down (15.4 points per game), but the Bears are getting more offense from her teammates, especially Kemery Martin.

11. Washington (9-1, 1-0 Pac-12)

AP ranking: Not ranked

NET ranking: 113

Preseason coaches poll predicted finish: 10th

Latest ESPN Bracketology NCAA Tournament projection: Not in the field or among the first eight out.

Next opponent: Colorado (Dec. 30)

Comment: Beating Washington State in the Pac-12 opener was a good sign, but losing to Liberty by 12 points at home in the next game was not.

12. Arizona State (7-4, 0-0 Pac-12)

AP ranking: Not ranked

NET ranking: 120

Preseason coaches poll predicted finish: 12th

Latest ESPN Bracketology NCAA Tournament projection: Not in the field or among the first eight out.

Next opponent: Arizona (Dec. 29)

Comment: Sun Devils’ 5-foot-5 guard Tyi Skinner is averaging 20.6 points but is shooting just 37.5% from the field and is averaging more turnovers (3.0) than assists (2.9)

Cover photo of Stanford's Tara VanDerveer and Hannah Jump is by D. Ross Cameron, USA TODAY Sports

Follow Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport

Add us as a preferred source on Google