Stanford to Face Cal in ACC Tournament

It is officially ACC tournament time.

On Wednesday, the No. 7 seed Stanford Cardinal will take the court for the first time in an ACC tournament, taking on the No. 15 seeded Cal Golden Bears for a spot in the quarterfinals. Once rivals in the Pac-12, the two programs reignite a storied rivalry, with the winner being one step closer to automatically qualifying for the NCAA tournament.

Finishing the regular season at 14-18 (6-14 ACC), the Golden Bears struggled to adjust in their first season in the new conference but showed that they have plenty of starpower that can pull through when needed. Led by former Stanford standout, Andrej Stojakovic (16.8 points), the Golden Bears have four players averaging double figures in scoring.

Offensively, the Golden Bears rank in the top half of the conference (No. 8) in offense while Stanford comes in ranked at No. 13. Averaging 75.5 points per game, Stojakovic has been a major catalyst for the Golden Bears' ability to score, using his larger-than-normal size for a guard to his advantage to create nightmare scenarios for the opposition.

Transferring from Stanford after his freshman season, Stojakovic went from averaging 7.8 a game to his current 16.8 as a sophomore.

In two meetings during the regular season, Stanford was able to use their star power in Maxime Raynaud and Jaylen Blakes to beat the Golden Bears both times, winning 89-81 in Berkeley in December and winning 66-61 at Maples on Feb. 22.

In both of those games, Cal struggled to contain the two biggest threats on the Cardinal in Blakes and Raynaud, with the duo combining for 40 points in the first victory, while Raynaud led the way with 20 points in the second victory.

In tournament games, defense is what is relied on to get wins. And for Cal, that is where they have struggled. Ranked No. 16 in the conference in overall defense, the Golden Bears give up an average of 76.6 points per game, allowing over 80 in three of the last four regular season games.

One big reason for that could be attributed to the Golden Bears lack of true rebounders, as aside from Mady Sissoko averaging 8.1 rebounds, they have struggled to have anybody else establish themselves as a threat in the middle.

Wednesday will be a big test for both sides.

While Stanford may have the rest advantage, Cal has momentum from the double-overtime win over Virginia Tech, which could make things more interesting.

Needing two overtimes to take down the Hokies, Cal took over at the end and did a good job of closing, going on a 15-6 run to end the game, with Stojakovic scoring 29 points. Containing Cal's star is priority No. 1 for the Cardinal, who could force them to dig deep into their rotation in order to pull out the win.

Cal-Stanford part III should be an interesting one considering what is at stake. The game is slated to begin at 4 p.m. (PT) and will air on ESPN2/ESPNU.