Rip off their hard hats

Final reminder: beware the chip on shoulder these Bears carry into tonight's game! Cal thinks they got screwed by the selection committee, deserved to play out west but instead had to travel across country. We know what Rick Pitino would bring to harvest with such fertile soil. Any reason to think Mike Montgomery is any different? Consider C.L. Brown's post from Monday:

Seems like U of L's first round opponent, Pac-10 regular season champion California, will carry a chip the size of the Golden State into Friday's game.

The Bears don't seem too pleased with having to make the cross-country trip to Jacksonville, Fla., feeling that they merited a spot in the West. Of the six major conferences, they received by far the worst seed for a regular season champ. (Consider: Notre Dame finished seventh in the Big East, but got a six seed.)

"Regardless of whatever you do in life, somebody's always going to have something to say," Cal guard Patrick Christopher said. "Everybody's not always going to be on your side, and we've dealt with that, being at Cal, for a while now, and me along with the rest of the guys on the team, we're about proving people wrong. We're going to strap on our hard hats and be ready to go to work."

We can beat these guys, Cards fans... we're better than them. Forget about the whole chip on shoulder routine... outplay Cal, out-execute Cal, beat Cal. We have to stare 'em down, eyeball to eyeball, and send their crying asses back west where they so desperately wish to remain. Let's do them the favor. Go Cards.