Cal Basketball Unveils Pre-ACC Schedule, Featuring Seven Home Games

Mark Madsen's second season tips off on Nov. 4 with a visit from Cal State Bakersfield

Mark Madsen celebrates with Cal fans / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Year 2 of the Mark Madsen coaching era at Cal will begin with the Bears taking on Cal State Bakersfield on Monday, Nov. 4 at Haas Pavilion.

The Bears released their non-conference men’s basketball schedule on Monday, showing seven home games, challenging road matchups against Vanderbilt, USC and Missouri plus a previously announced neutral-site game vs. San Diego State at San Jose.

Madsen will field an almost entirely new team this team, featuring nine scholarship transfer players and highly regarded freshman guard Jeremiah Wilkinson of Powder Springs, Georgia.

The Bears struggled out of the gate in Madsen’s debut season, going 4-8 in non-conference play. But they improved throughout the year, completing a 9-11 record in their final season in the Pac-12 after going 2-18 the year before under former coach Mark Fox.

Three days after facing Bakersfield in their opener, the Bears will take on Cal Poly on Nov. 7 at Haas.

Those first two games will be part of doubleheaders, with the Cal women hosting Saint Mary’s and Idaho State on the same nights.

They trek to Nashville, Tenn., to play Vanderbilt for the first time ever on Nov. 13, then travel to Los Angeles to take on long-time former conference rival USC for the 271st time.

The Bears will play both the Commodores and Trojans in future games at Berkeley to complete and home-and-home arrangements.

The Bears will play three games at the Cal Classic on their home floor in the week leading to Thanksgiving. They open against Air Force on Thursday, Nov. 21, play Sacramento State on Sunday, Nov. 24 and square off vs. Mercyhurst on Wednesday, Nov. 27.

Cal will play Missouri in Columbia, Mo., on Tuesday, Dec. 3 as part of the SEC-ACC Challenge.

The Bears play two final non-conference home games against Cornell on Tursday, Dec. 10 and Northwestern State on Saturday, Dec. 14.

Their pre-ACC slate ends with a drive to the South Bay to play SDSU at the SAP Center on Saturday, Dec. 21.

2024-25 Cal basketball non-conference schedule / Cal Athletics