Less than an hour after he and his Cal squad walked off the court following a season-ending 79-74 loss to Stanford in the second round of the ACC Tournament last week, head coach Mark Madsen was on the podium taking questions about his team.

He had his usual demeanor – expressing his pride for how his undermanned squad fought tooth and nail all night, answering questions about some of the tactics the Bears employed during the game. But at the end of the press conference, Madsen made a declaration.

“Our goal at Cal is to win a national championship. That’s our goal. And we are going to do it.” Madsen said. “We wish we had more progress. In year one, we won 13 games. This year, we won 14 [games] … but we're gonna keep building this thing. ... We're locking arms with an unbelievable administration, with unbelievable alums and supporters, and this is a true team. We are going to do special things at Cal in the future of basketball.”

Madsen setting that expectation for his program is bold. Cal hasn’t won a national championship since 1959. Cal hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2016. Cal hasn’t had a winning season in nearly a decade. Some could say it’s arrogant and reckless to throw “national championship” around haphazardly.