Pac-12 Basketball: Oregon vs. Cal preview, prediction, TV schedule
By Michael Foy
On Wednesday night, the Oregon Ducks travel to Berkley to take on the Cal Golden Bears in a Pac-12 basketball showdown.
TV Schedule: Wednesday, Feb. 22, 9:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Arena: Haas Pavilion, Berkley, CA
Prediction: Oregon 82, Cal 68
The Oregon Ducks have finally turned into the team that everyone thought that they would be at the beginning of the season. They are ranked in the top-10 and are in the hunt for a Pac-12 title. They are becoming a trendy Final Four pick, and are looking better and better as the season progresses. This very well could be the year for the Ducks. This team is loaded with talent and experience to match it.
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Cal, on the other hand, is a different story. The Bears have played well enough this year to make the NCAA Tournament, but they have recently dropped back-to-back games against Arizona and Stanford. The Bears should be able to make this game competitive but in the end, they don’t seem to have what it takes to bring down the peaking Ducks.
Oregon seems to be rolling and finally starting to peak at the right time, while Cal seems to be hitting an end of the year skid. The Pac-12 title is still within reach and this game shouldn’t move the Ducks down the standings.
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Cal could make this game interesting but they may struggle to keep up with an Oregon team that’s scoring 80 points per contest. In the end, this game may be closer than the 86-63 blowout win for the Ducks back in January. But, the Ducks are just too deep, experienced, and talented not to walk out of Haas Pavilion with a win.