BERKELEY – California will take the big stage as the Golden Bears return to Haas Pavilion this Sunday to host Stanford in the Big Meet.
 
The meet marks the first televised home match for the Bears since 2017 and will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks at 6 p.m. (PT).
 
Cal moved ahead to No. 9 this week in the CGA rankings, up two spots from a week ago as they prepare again for No. 2 Stanford. Sunday's dual will mark the third time, in as many weeks and in as many locations that the Bears faceoff against the Cardinal.
 
"This meet should be a lot of fun as it is broadcast on TV," said head coach JT Okada. "Being on TV always adds an element to the competition and is great promotion for men's gymnastics."
 
While the Bears have been edged by the Cardinal in the previous two meets, Cal has shown significant improvement from week 1 to week 2, most notably with reigning CGA Rookie of the Week freshman Darren Wong crowning in the all-around at Stanford last Saturday.
 
Collectively, the Bears improved their team totals in five of six events last week, including the pommel horse, which gave them trouble opening weekend increasing from 61.150 to 62.600. However, the most notable increase came on the still rings as Cal moved from 64.850 to 66.650.
 
A large part of their success on rings was due to senior Harrison Plate who was the co-winner on the apparatus with a career best 14.300 score.
 
After last week's meet, Okada was pleased with the direction of the team.
 
"The improvement on five out of six events is huge and our hit percentage was so much better," he said. "We're getting a lot of different experience here and better results. It's a cool place to be because sometimes when you're getting new experiences the outcomes aren't always there."
 
For more information on Cal men's gymnastics, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @CalMGym.