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		Michael Duca on Cal football and basketball By Michael Duca November 29, 2009

	Sportstalk: Cal 8-3 (5-3) had Saturday off as a bye. They got a huge win against Stanford 8-4 (6-3) the week before in the Big Game at the farm. How do you see the match up against the Washington 4-7 (3-5) in Seattle this coming Saturday? Look for this game to be ground-oriented. It should be cold, and will almost certainly be very wet, in Seattle. I expect the Bears to run the ball, and run it some more, and then when they are done, run it again. The Huskies have fallen very far from the pedestal they were placed on when they knocked off USC what seems like 2 or 3 years ago, now -- but they can't be taken lightly. A win ensures Cal will be no worse than tied for third, possibly tied for second (if Oregon knocks off Oregon State in the Civil War Thursday night) -- then, it's up to the bowl committees and all the deals that will be cut in back rooms. I'm hearing that Stanford has the inside track to the Emerald Bowl this year -- Cal might well wind up in the Sun Bowl in El Paso -- if they win. If they don't win, they will play again in the Armed Forces Bowl. Sportstalk: Cal running back Shane Vareen has literally carried the load for the Bears since Jahvid Best has been out. With Best a probable for Saturday and Vereen having had a good number of carries the confidence of the back field is intact and it's something that head coach Jeff Tedford has to be pleased with? Tedford has always stressed the depth of his team, and how he tries to have players in place to have little or no falloff when a starter goes down. I think he's very happy to have Vereen on the roster, and I think it's likely that Shane will get the bulk of the carries this week even if Best is active. Sportstalk: Miguel it had to be the first time in a while that the UC Regents had something to smile about on campus as the Cal basketball team upended Princeton on Sunday afternoon with a 81-60 victory to get Cal to 3-2. Jamal Boykin and Jerome Randall had 22 points to help lead the team. Cal had some trouble in New York at the Play Station 2 Tournament losing two games there. Do you find that home cooking makes the difference for the Bears in getting in the win column? No, it's not really home cooking -- it's what Mom is taking out of the oven that matters. When Mom serves cupcakes at home, everyone's happy (except the cupcake itself). Princeton is a well-known team, but they are not even close to the caliber of Syracuse and Ohio State. It was the quality of competition that mattered in New York -- and the loss of Theo Robertson for the games. We will know a lot more about Cal in a month, after they have played Iowa State, Pacific, New Mexico and Kansas.