The first weekend of the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments is in the books -- are you still alive in your office pool? Not if you took the Road to the Final Four less traveled.

If you went with the favorites, chances are you're sitting pretty. With the exception of the toothless male Badgers of Wisconsin, all first and second seeds in both tourneys advanced to the Sweet 16. That's not to say that a few high seeds didn't get a scare or that some middling seeds will never get a chance to germinate into full-blown Cinderellas, but overall, both tournaments are sticking to the script.

Well, we're damn glad this season is over. Best performance of the year goes to Cal, even if they did get upset by Texas Tech in San Diego last week. Fact is, this is Cal we're talking about here. Why is nobody accusing them of choking, of not being able to handle the pressure of big games? Because they have no history of big games to compare with! The fact that Cal got to the Holiday Bowl, even if they were then somewhat embarrassed by the Red Raider's run-and-gun attack, means that the program is twenty times better than it has been for the last thirty years. What SFist finds ironic is that this season for Cal has been nearly a mirror image of the Texas Longhorns' season last year -- snubbed by a bigger bowl, Texas went to the Holiday Bowl only to lose to the underdog -- and since we're superstitious to the extreme, we're willing to bet all comers one expired AC Transit transfer that Cal wins the Rose Bowl next year. Stanford, well...good luck, boys! more ›

Even though the Cal Bears romped on Southern Miss, 26-16, Saturday in a makeup game that was rescheduled after Hurrican Ivan delayed the original date, they will not be going to the Rose Bowl. That's right, the Texas Longhorns hooked the at-large bid thanks to gains in the press and coaches polls. Blame the BCS (BC-Mess, Broke-Ass Choosing System, Bears Can't Succeed, Because Coaches Suck, f**king piece of s**t, whatever you wan't to call it), which actually dissed Texas last year. SFist would like to say that the Bears have had a fantastic season and played as gentlemen. You didn't see Jeff Tedford begging for votes on national TV like Texas coach Mack Brown after the Longhorns' game against the Aggies, and when Cal had the ball at the Southern Miss 22-yard line, quarterback Aaron Rodgers took a knee instead of trying to run up the score. We'll cheer for you at the Holiday Bowl against the Horny Toads of Texas Tech. more ›