 Seaborg was an enthusiastic supporter of Cal 's sports teams . San Francisco columnist Herb Caen was fond of pointing out that Seaborg 's surname is an anagram of " Go Bears " , a popular cheer at UC Berkeley . Seaborg was proud of the fact that the Cal Bears won their first and only National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) basketball championship in 1959 , while he was chancellor . The football team also won the conference title and played in the Rose Bowl that year . He served on the Faculty Athletic Committee for several years and was the co @-@ author of a book , Roses from the Ashes : Breakup and Rebirth in Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Athletics ( 2000 ) , concerning the Pacific Coast Conference recruiting scandal , and the founding of what is now the Pac @-@ 12 , in which he played a role in restoring confidence in the integrity of collegiate sports . 
