The 2008–09 California Golden Bears men's basketball team represented the University of California, Berkeley in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Mike Montgomery's first season at California. The Golden Bears played their home games at Haas Pavilion and participated in the Pacific-10 Conference. The Golden Bears finished the season 22–11, 11–7 in Pac-10 play to finish in third place. They lost to USC in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 tournament. They received an at–large bid to the 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, earning a 7 seed in the West Region. They were beaten by 10 seed Maryland in the first round.