These schools have something to prove

Every year, a number of teams have to prove something. Whether coming off a disappointing season or because the window of opportunity for greatness is closing, certain teams have no time to wait for progress. It has to happen this year.

Here are 11 of those teams:

Cal: With consecutive 13-win seasons, the Golden Bears have been the Pac-10 disappointment of each of the past two years. The inside-outside combination of Leon Powe and Richard Midgley/Ayinde Ubaka was supposed to take off, but Powe's knee was never right and Midgley has taken too long to develop. Now, add freshman Jordan Wilkes and Kansas transfer Omar Wilkes (both sons of UCLA star Jamal) along with last year's leading scorer, center Rod Benson, to the mix and Cal seems loaded. Bay-area rival Stanford is consistently in the NCAA mix; coach Ben Braun should join the Cardinal there this season.

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