Late February is a busy time for Cal sports, as the Winter sports wind down just as the Spring sports being ramping up.  A quick rundown of where some of the bigger teams stand:

 – Gotta start by giving some love to the ruggers.  Big, big win over UBC yesterday.  I would have loved to attend, but the match, just as in previous years, was scheduled for early afternoon on a weekday.  I can’t understand why they wouldn’t schedule this game, always one of the most competitive of the year, for a weekend.  Maybe someone will enlighten me.  Anyway, Cal answered a rare halftime deficit by running off 22 straight points to take the match 32-17, giving them a big advantage in trying to win the World Cup, a trophy most of the rugby team values more than the Scrum Axe.  Huge, huge stuff.

 – Men’s basketball is down in La-La Land to take on UCLA tonight, with ‘SC to follow on Saturday.  No one expects Cal to win either game, which means anything they can grab is a bonus.  Can they build off last week’s momentum?  Can they win in Pauley Pavilion for the third straight year?  Would a marquee win like this catapult them into the NCAA tournament discussion?  I fear the answer to all three questions is ‘no’, though I hope I’m wrong.

 – Women’s basketball is finishing the season at home this week against the LA schools, with the tournament to follow next week in San Jose.  The Bears can lock up the tournement’s No. 3 seed with a win tonight over USC, but I’m not sure how much that helps them.  Yes, they would avoid No. 1 seed Stanford until the finals, but running into No. 2 seeded Arizona State doesn’t seem like much of a bonus, as ASU has soundly defeated Cal in both meetings this season.

Yes, these Bears at least should be in the NCAA tournament, having won 20 games already for the first time in 15 years, but if they don’t pick things up soon, they won’t last long.  They’ve dropped 2 of their last 4, including a 62-42 stinker at Oregon last Thursday, to fall out of the rankings for the first time this year, and they needed 2 overtimes to overcome lowly Oregon State on Saturday.  Time to pick it up, ladies.

 – Baseball season is just underway, and the early returns are mixed.  After running out to a 5-2 start, the Bears have dropped 3 in a row, all by a single run.  In fact, of Cal’s losses, only the 15-6 beatdown at the hands of USF has been by more than a run.  However, the road gets more difficult from here on out.  Tuesday’s game at SJSU began a nearly month-long roadtrip, with games upcoming against Long Beach State, UCSB, Stanford, Kent State, Louisville, Indiana State, and UC Davis.  If the Bears can take a game from nationally-ranked Long Beach State, that’d be a good start.  See you next month.

 – Fortunately, Cal does have some teams with national rankings of its own.  Besides the No. 1 ranked rugby team, women’s swimming checks in at No. 3, men’s swimming at No. 4, women’s water polo at No. 5, men’s gymnastics and women’s tennis at No. 9, and softball at No. 10.  Pretty damn impressive, I’d say.  Go Bears!