Playing a top-five team close reflects well on the Bears—despite losing and playing pretty ugly at times. And this is coming from someone who's really ugly.
The California Golden Bears were just barely (and bearly) in the Top 25 in the AP Poll, the Coaches Poll, and—perhaps most important of all—the ESPN Power Rankings. After losing to the Utah Utes, staying ranked in all three polls seemed highly improbable.
Well, Cal kinda has this issue with highly improbable things.
The AP Poll and the Coaches Poll both have us at #23.