With the Cal men’s basketball non-conference schedule now released, we thought it would be a good idea to take a quick look at some of the key games. The 12-game non-conference portion of the Golden Bears’ schedule should prove to be exciting and important as they prepare for Pac-12 play in January.

Monday, November 21 vs. San Diego State: The first key game of the Golden Bears’ non-conference schedule is their game against San Diego State in Sacramento at the Golden One Arena, the new home of the Sacramento Kings. The Aztecs defeated the Golden Bears in Las Vegas last year during Thanksgiving weekend, so Cal knows not to take these guys lightly. This game should be a lot of fun due to its location and opponent.

Friday, November 25 vs. Wyoming: Cal got the win up in Wyoming last season and so the Cowboys will be coming into Berkeley looking for some revenge of their own. The Cowboys will be without their leading scorer from last season, Josh Adams, who graduated. Even without Adams’ presence, the recent history of these two teams tells us that it will be close. These teams also played in 2014 in Berkeley and like last season, Cal won by a very narrow margin. History tells us this one will be close, regardless of who is on the floor.

Pearl Harbor Invitational: On December 6 & 7, which will be a Tuesday and Wednesday, Cal will participate in the Pearl Harbor Invitational in Hawaii. The opponents will be Princeton and Seton Hall, two teams that are always respectable, so Cal will need to be prepared to play well. Hopefully for Cal, this mini tournament will go better than Las Vegas did last season over Thanksgiving weekend.

Wednesday, December 21 vs. Virginia: Cal will take on Virginia in the return game of a home and home series that began last season. Last season in Virginia, the Cavaliers won by a final score of 63-62 in overtime as the #5 ranked team in the country. Cal is definitely looking at this game as a chance to make a statement and prove that they still have the pieces to be one of the more dangerous teams in the country.

Full schedule (All times TBA)

Friday, November 11 vs. South Dakota State

Wednesday, November 16 vs. UC Irvine

Monday, November 21 vs. San Diego State*

Friday, November 25 vs. Wyoming

Sunday, November 27 vs. Southeastern Louisiana

Wednesday, November 30 vs. Louisiana Tech

Saturday, December 3 vs. Alcorn State

Tuesday, December 6 vs. Princeton*

Wednesday, December 7 vs. Seton Hall*

Saturday, December 10 vs. UC Davis

Saturday, December 17 vs. Cal Poly

Wednesday, December 21 vs. Virginia

*Denotes neutral site location

Note: No exhibition has been announced, but we imagine there will be one on Monday, November 7, the day after the women’s exhibition. Nothing official at the moment, but just something to keep an eye out for.