California appeared to take a huge step forward two seasons ago by reaching an NCAA regional and finishing the season with a 33-21 record.

That wasn't the case.

The Golden Bears resorted back to their old ways last season by finishing the season with a dismal 9-18 conference record and a 24-29 record.

Cal now hopes to return to some respectability.

The offense has some incredibly tough holes to fill with the departures of three of their top four hitters. The pitching staff, though, is in decent shape with the return of several arms that were in key roles last season.

We dissect the Golden Bears this fall.

California's five keys

1. Get back some swagger -- The Golden Bears were one of the Pac-10's better teams two seasons ago when they reached the Long Beach Regional. The only problem was the Long Beach Regional was by far the nation's toughest with four outstanding teams. Cal fell short of winning the regional, but had an excellent group of leaders including Josh Satin and Tyson Ross, among others. Last year's group didn't have the type of leaders that previously had led the Golden Bears to a regional berth. To take a huge step forward in the spring, it's incredibly important for the Bears to establish some key leaders and swagger.

2. Replace some key hitters -- The Golden Bears finished last season with a respectable, but far from good, batting average of .298. But from that team, the Bears must replace at least three key hitters between now and the spring, including Brett Jackson, Jeff Kobernus and Blake Smith. Jackson batted .321 with eight homers and 41 RBIs last season. Kobernus batted .341 with eight homers and 40 RBIs and Smith batted .319 with 10 homers and 38 RBIs. The talented trio was three of six hitters that finished last season with batting averages better than .300. That's an important fact to remember this fall.

3. Get big-time offensive campaigns from Canha, Guinn and Oh -- Without the talented trio above in the equation, the Golden Bears once again need solid campaigns from the returning trio of Mark Canha, Brian Guinn and Danny Oh. Canha actually led the team last season with a .366 batting average, 12 homers and 43 RBIs, so his return is huge. Cal also welcomes back Guinn, who finished last season hitting .315 with two homers and 35 RBIs, and Oh, who batted .303 with seven homers and 35 RBIs last season. Cal could be better than expected if these guys rise to the occasion in the spring.

4. Pitching staff must step up -- There's no question the Golden Bears need to be better on the mound in the spring. They finished last season with an unimpressive 5.74 ERA. But there's a silver lining this fall, as the Bears welcome back several of their best pitchers, including Dixon Anderson, Chris Petrini, Erik Johnson and Kevin Miller. Anderson made 20 appearances last season and had a 3.98 ERA in 43 innings, Petrini made 13 appearances and four starts and had a 3.98 ERA in 43 innings, Johnson made 19 appearances and nine starts and had a 4.41 ERA in 67 1/3 innings. Miller, meanwhile, made 15 appearances and 10 starts and had a 4.50 ERA in 50 innings. The Bears have a solid nucleus on the mound, but must have a much better pitching staff as a whole. If not, it'll be tough to experience much success in the spring.

5. Establish some quality depth on the mound -- The Bears had a talented quartet of pitchers last season with Anderson, Petrini, Johnson and Miller leading the way. But outside of those guys, the Bears lacked consistency in the worst way. There's a reason they finished last season with such a bad ERA. Other returning pitchers, such as Brian Diemer, must elevate their game. Diemer, for instance, made 16 appearances last season and had a 6.34 ERA in 59 2/3 innings. The Bears will be one of the nation's biggest surprises if the pitching staff establishes consistency. That's a strong prediction.