Despite consistent season, Bears not elite yet

Given the caliber of the Cal men’s tennis team, the Bears showed remarkable consistency throughout the season. It just wasn’t the consistency of an elite program.

After finishing the 2011 season ranked No. 14 in the country, head coach Peter Wright’s squad started the season with the same ranking and finished one spot higher, capping a season of few peaks or valleys with a round of 16 loss to third-seeded Virginia at NCAAs.

But the story of the 2012 Cal men’s tennis team is a simple one: The squad beat all the teams worse than them, and lost to all the teams that were better.

Of the 13 games Cal played against opponents that finished the year in the top 10, the squad lost 12. Yet the Bears consistently