Cal Athletics 2022: Stories of the Year, Part 3

Topping the list: Football and basketball whiff on reaching the postseason once more.

It was a rough year for Cal’s three revenue sports. Again.

For the third straight calendar year, the Bears’ football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams were non-contending afterthoughts in the Pac-12.

As we unveil the the top five headlines in our three-part series ,the chronic under-performance of football and men’s and women’s basketball is, sadly, our No. 1 Cal story for 2022.

Cal coach Justin Wilcox shares his thoughts with game officials / Photo by Darren Yamashita, USA Today

Here are the grim details:

— Coach Justin Wilcox’s football team went 4-8 — its worst record in a full season since 2012 — and missed playing in a bowl game for the third consecutive year. The Bears tied for ninth place in the Pac-12 with a 2-7 record — the 13th year in a row they have failed to post a winning conference record.

— The men’s basketball team was 10th in the Pac-12 last season, finishing 12-20 overall — its fifth consecutive losing season and the fourth time over than span the Bears have lost at least 20 games. Cal hasn’t participated in the NCAA tournament since 2016. Coach Mark Fox’s squad dropped its first 12 games this season — the program's worst start ever — before beating Texas Arlington on Dec. 21.

— The Cal women finished 11th in the Pac-12 with a 2-10 record in 2021-22 and at 11-13 overall failed to advance to the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive season. Coach Charmin Smith’s squad completed a 9-2 non-conference slate this season but was projected 11th in the Pac-12 and opened its conference schedule with a 90-69 loss at second-ranked Stanford.

Bowl games and the NCAA tournament are but a memory for Cal fans. Barring a major turnaround, all three of the school’s high-profile programs will miss out on the post season for a third straight academic year.

Cal hasn’t endured such a long combined postseason drought since a four-year stretch from 1997-98 through 2000-01 — 22 years ago.

Only twice ever — in 2005-06 and 2011-12 — have all three Bears’ teams made it to the promised land in the same school year.

Adding to the dysfunctional scenario was Cal's announcement in late August it had signed a 10-year, $17.5 million Memorial Stadium naming rights deal with FTX, a cryptocurrency company, which would pay the university in virtual currency. 

To suggest the arrangement turned out to be ill-advised is stating the obvious because on Nov. 11, FTX filed for bankruptcy amid a scandal involving founder Samuel Bankman-Fried, who was extradited from the Bahamas and faces a litany of charges that, if convicted, could land him in prison for more than 100 years.

*** Top stories of 2022: Nos. 6 through 10

*** Top stories of 2022: Nos. 11 through 15

Here are the next four biggest Cal stories of 2022, completing our top five:

Two-time college Player of the Year Nikolaos Papanikolaou / Photo by Catharyn Hayne, KLC fotos

2. A stunning water polo comeback

Everything was lined up perfectly for the Cal men’s water polo team. The Bears were top-seeded in the NCAA tournament and in their home pool at the Spieker Aquatics Complex, well positioned to defend their national championship against USC. But with less than 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, they found themselves trailing 12-8. Amazingly, they regrouped to score five unanswered goals, three of them by two-time national player of the year Nikolaos Papanikolaou, to claim a 13-12 victory.

“That was insane,” said coach Kirk Everist after the Bears won their 16th national crown in the sport, the fifth under his watch. Papanikolaou, a 6-foot-3, 242-pound junior from Greece, wound up with seven goals and sophomore Roberto Valera scored the game winner with 41 seconds left as the Bears finished the season with a 23-2 record.

UCLA football coach Chip Kelly / Photo by Rob Schumacher, USA Today

3. USC and UCLA to exit Pac-12 for the Big Ten

USC and UCLA sent shockwaves through college football when they announced on July 1 they would leave the Pac-12 Conference in favor of the Big Ten before the 2024-25 academic year. The move will earn the two Los Angeles schools a a cut of the Big Ten’s media rights deal, expected to be richer than the next TV deal the Pac-12 negotiates. The news prompted rampant speculation that other Pac-12 schools — Oregon and Washington in particular, but possibly Stanford and Cal as well — would follow them to the Big Ten, none of which has happened.

UCLA, as a member of the UC system, drew sharp criticism up and down the state, including from Gov. Gavin Newsom, for a move that will diminish the Pac-12’s financial standing. The UC Regents finally approved the deal on December 14 but recommended UCLA be required to subsidize Cal anywhere from $2 million to $10 million annually to compensate for lost revenue. Details have yet to be determined.

Jared Goff & Aaron Rodgers jerseys / Photo by Kirby Lee, USA Today

4. Jared Goff & Aaron Rodgers on collision course

While two-time reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers and the Packers struggled much of this season, fellow Cal alum Jared Goff, 28, has helped the Lions make an unexpected push toward the postseason. Now it’s possible a clash of the two former Golden Bears on the final day of the regular season could determine whether it’s Green Bay or Detroit that lands a spot in the NFL playoffs. The Lions began the season 1-6 but Goff led the franchise to six wins its next seven games, with Goff completing 66 percent of his passes with 11 touchdowns and just one interception. Detroit lost 37-23 to Carolina last weekend, dropping to 7-8.

Rodgers, 39 and the owner of four career MVP awards, saw his fortunes go in the opposite direction most of this season. Rodgers’ passer rating is the lowest of his career since becoming a starter and Green Bay began the season with a 4-8 record, making it a long shot for the postseason. But the Packers have won three in a row and Detroit lost to Carolina, leaving both teams at 7-8 with two games to play. Stay tuned.

Teri McKeever / Photo by Kyle Terada, USA Today

5. Swim coach Teri McKeever suspended amid scandal

The collegiate swim world was jolted in May by a investigative story published by the Southern California News Group alleging Cal women’s coach Teri McKeever verbally and emotionally abused her swimmers for decades, all the while winning four NCAA team titles and assembling a run of 15 consecutive top-5 national finishes. Cal placed McKeever, 60, on paid administrative while beginning an investigation that still has not reached a conclusion.

The newspaper initially interviewed 19 current and former Cal swimmers and six parents, and revealed that six athletes contemplated suicide under McKeever’s watch. The story also cited sources claiming multiple complaints were lodged with Cal’s administration dating back to 2014 but got little response.

Cover photo of Cal basketball coach Mark Fox by Cody Glenn, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo