Fresno State's opponent has caught the eye of President Obama.

The President revealed Wednesday that he has picked Cal as one of his Final Four women's basketball teams for the NCAA Tournament.

Of course, that means he thinks the second-seeded Golden Bears (28-3) will eliminate 15th-seeded Fresno State (24-8) during the first round Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.

Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb has been telling her players to ignore bracket predictions, but President Obama's bracketology projection was too good not to share.

"My message to the team was anything you hear, good or bad, block it out," Gottlieb said. "But I didn't expect that would include from President Obama.

"We'll probably give them a pass on that one and laugh about it today. The things this team has done to put California in the public eye, I am proud of."

But if Fresno State pulls off the shocker? Then, the Bulldogs might be the ones laughing. Gottlieb, for one, was impressed with Fresno State.

"My first impression as I watched film is this team is a 15 seed?" Gottlieb said. "This team is very good. You don't win 24 games unless you're very good and have an excellent coach.

"Something that's unique about them is they have a style. They have this five-out, drive-and-kick style and shoot a lot of (3-pointers). So it's a unique matchup for us just because post players will have to guide people on the perimeter."

Like the Bulldogs, Cal, which averages 71.6 points per game, plays some of its best basketball when it's running at fast pace. That might cause the Bulldogs to be more selective when they push the tempo, perhaps instead incorporating a strong zone defense that'll force Cal to shoot from the perimeter.

The Bears have made just 30.3% of their 3-pointers, though they've countered that with an average of 18.1 offensive rebounds per game. Cal's rebound margin of plus-11.6 ranks for the season ranks third in the nation.

Rebounding has been an Achilles' heel for the Bulldogs all season, though they've done a better job on the boards down the stretch. Fresno State has a minus-1.7 rebounding margin for the season.

"We have to figure out how can we be best set up for success in keeping their bigs off the boards," Bulldogs coach Raegan Pebley said. "They also have some guards that can rebound. ... We've had to find answers for the boards against all of (the Mountain West) teams, and had we not found answers, I don't know if we would have been able to get into the Tournament.

"It's got to be a strong focus. It can be done. It's just going to be really hard."

Cal's top three rebounders are 6-foot-2 forward Gennifer Brandon (11.2 per game), 6-3 center Talia Caldwell (7.4) and 5-9 guard Brittany Boyd (5.1).

Bulldogs 6-1 sophomore center Alex Sheedy said it will be a challenge. She has played more physically of late and has been aggressive chasing missed shots. Sheedy is averaging 5.7 boards per game.

"I think everyone has put in a more conscious effort to rebound," Sheedy said. "I know that's what my team needs me to do. I'm trying to be more of a presence for my team. I'm trying to help everyone do better by being better myself and stepping up my game."

Fresno State resting up

The Bulldogs had Wednesday off from practice to catch up on school work and rest their bodies. The starting backcourt of Taylor Thompson and Ki-Ki Moore has especially been in need of rest.

Thompson had the wind knocked out of her after running hard into a screen during the Mountain West Conference tournament final last weekend. Moore has been playing with a bad ankle the whole season, along with other various injuries and pain, and has been limited in practice throughout the year.

Fresno State is scheduled to fly to Lubbock this morning and hold a practice today and again Friday.

"This is the time of year rested, confident players win you games -- not coaches," Pebley said.

Cal, meanwhile, will have had two weeks of downtime going into Saturday's game after getting eliminated by UCLA in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament. Gottlieb didn't seem too concerned about the Bears getting rusty.

"When the new schedule came out and we knew we were going to have this break between the Pac-12 and NCAA Tournament, I was kind of worried about that because we've never had that before," Gottlieb said. "But when the time came, I think we needed the rest. We needed an emotional and mental break to get refreshed. It's actually been very good for us. ...

"Yesterday it was great to get back on the court with a (scouting report) on an opponent. Because all of a sudden, there was that renewed sense of purpose. There's no need for me to motivate this team."

Vandenbergs double

Fresno State freshman Jacinta Vandenberg and her older brother Jordan Vandenberg are both on teams that reached the NCAA Tournament.

The 6-foot-6 Jacinta is the Bulldogs' backup center and averaging 13.5 minutes per game along with 3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.75 blocks. Jordan is a 7-foot-1 junior on the North Carolina State men's team (24-10) that received at-large bid. Jordan, also a reserve center, is averaging 5.4 minutes.

The siblings are from Melbourne, Australia. Height, obviously, runs in the Vandenberg family. Their father is close to 7-feet tall as well.