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Who? The Golden Bears of the University of California at Berkeley. Cal for (very) short, California for slightly less short.
When do they play in the first round? Cal will face off against Wichita State on Friday, March 20, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
What? The name was coined in 1895, when Cal track and field brought a bear banner with them to represent the school and state. After kicking butt and not bothering to take names, the name stuck. Oski is a figure of myth and legend.
Where? Berkeley, California, which is home to a Himalayan fair, which sounds kinda interesting.
Why? Top-25 RPI, top-25 SOS tend to mean an at-large bid.
How? They were an at-large selection.
Surprise? Predicted to finish second in the conference, they finished tied for third, three games behind Oregon State.
RPI: 23
SOS: 21
Record: 23-9 (13-5 Pac-12)
Good wins: At Arizona State.
Bad losses: Getting curb-stomped at Kansas may actually have been worse than a narrow overtime loss at Long Beach State.
Who's running this show? Lindsay Gottlieb, since 2011. She has a Masters in Philosophy of Education, so you know she takes teaching very seriously.
Extra, Extra! The San Francisco Chronicle. Our homies at California Golden Blogs hold down for women's basketball, too (and better).
If the senior duo of forward Reshanda Gray and guard Brittany Boyd are known as Cornflakes and Milk, can we also call them the Cereal Killers?
I'll show myself out.
But you came here for a collection of factoids and a précis on Cal, and you're going to get it. Gray leads the way at 17.5 points per game at 56.4% shooting near the basket, chipping in 7.2 rebounds. Boyd leads the team in rebounding from the point guard position at 7.7 boards, adding 13.3 points and 6.8 assists.
Cal games tend to feature a lot of missed shots for both teams- plenty of rebounds to go around. I am not quite sure how their opponents managed to play a minute longer than they did, though. Their free throw shooting is also extremely worrisome, with nobody cracking 70%.