# 1959–60 California Golden Bears men's basketball team

The 1959–60 California Golden Bears men's basketball team represented the University of California, Berkeley in NCAA University Division basketball competition. Led by sixth-year head coach Pete Newell, serving in his final season at the school, the Golden Bears made their second consecutive, and most recent, Final Four. Cal finished as runner-up in the 1960 NCAA Tournament, losing to Ohio State in the championship game.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Dec 4, 1959* | | at UC Santa Barbara | W 59–47 | 1–0 | Robertson Gymnasium Santa Barbara, California |
| Dec 8, 1959* | | at San Francisco | W 65–40 | 2–0 | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California |
| Dec 12, 1959* | | San Jose State | W 54–43 | 3–0 | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Dec 18, 1959* | | Colorado | W 51–47 | 4–0 | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Dec 19, 1959* | | Colorado | W 79–46 | 5–0 | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Dec 23, 1959* | No. 4 | No. 11 Michigan State | W 71–60 | 6–0 | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Dec 28, 1959* | No. 3 | No. 8 Illinois Los Angeles Basketball Classic | W 62–48 | 7–0 | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (10,838) Los Angeles, California |
| Dec 29, 1959* | No. 3 | at USC Los Angeles Basketball Classic | W 65–61 $^{OT}$ | 8–0 | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California |
| Dec 30, 1959* | No. 3 | vs. No. 2 West Virginia Los Angeles Basketball Classic | W 65–45 | 9–0 | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California |
| Jan 2, 1960 | No. 3 | at USC | L 57–65 | 9–1 (0–1) | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California |
| Jan 4, 1960 | No. 3 | at No. 10 USC | W 60–45 | 10–1 (1–1) | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California |
| Jan 8, 1960 | No. 2 | UCLA | W 59–47 | 11–1 (2–1) | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Jan 9, 1960 | No. 2 | at Stanford | W 52–43 | 12–1 (3–1) | Old Pavilion Stanford, California |
| Jan 15, 1960* | No. 2 | Washington State | W 54–43 | 13–1 | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Jan 16, 1960 | No. 2 | Washington | W 79–39 | 14–1 (4–1) | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Jan 29, 1960* | No. 3 | Oregon | W 70–45 | 15–1 | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Jan 30, 1960* | No. 3 | Oregon State | W 67–48 | 16–1 | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Feb 5, 1960 | No. 3 | Washington | W 68–53 | 17–1 (5–1) | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Feb 12, 1960* | No. 3 | USC | W 57–46 | 18–1 (6–1) | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Feb 13, 1960 | No. 3 | UCLA | W 53–45 | 19–1 (7–1) | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Feb 20, 1960 | No. 3 | at UCLA | W 67–57 | 20–1 (8–1) | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California |
| Feb 26, 1960 | No. 4 | at Washington | W 54–47 | 21–1 (9–1) | Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, Washington |
| Feb 27, 1960* | No. 4 | at Oregon State | W 62–47 | 22–1 | Oregon State Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon |
| Mar 4, 1960 | No. 3 | Stanford | W 51–42 | 23–1 (10–1) | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Mar 5, 1960 | No. 3 | at Stanford | W 70–51 | 24–1 (11–1) | Old Pavilion Stanford, California |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 1960* | No. 2 | vs. Idaho State | W 71–44 | 25–1 | War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California |
| Mar 11, 1960* | No. 2 | vs. Santa Clara Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixten | W 69–49 | 26–1 | Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, Washington |
| Mar 12, 1960* | No. 2 | vs. Oregon Regional final – Elite Eight | W 70–49 | 27–1 | Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, Washington |
| Mar 18, 1960* | No. 2 | vs. No. 1 Cincinnati National semifinal – Final Four | W 77–69 | 28–1 | Cow Palace Daly City, California |
| Mar 19, 1960* | No. 2 | vs. No. 3 Ohio State National Championship Game | L 55–75 | 28–2 | Cow Palace Daly City, California |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Final |
| AP | Not released | Not released | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Coaches | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

## Awards and honors

* Darrall Imhoff – Consensus First-team All-American
* Pete Newell – Henry Iba Award, NABC Coach of the Year, UPI College Basketball Coach of the Year

## 1960 NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Team |
| 1 | 3 | Darrall Imhoff | New York Knicks |