Cal MBB Pac-12 Schedule Fully Released

On Tuesday, the 2020-21 Cal men’s basketball Pac-12 schedule was fully released by the Pac-12. Cal’s schedule will feature 20 games: 10 at home and 10 away. The schedule is as follows:

Home: Arizona State (Dec. 3)

Away: at UCLA (Dec. 6)

Away: at Oregon (Dec. 31)

Away: at Oregon State (Jan. 2)

Home: Washington State (Jan. 7)

Home Washington (Jan. 9)

Away: at Colorado (Jan. 13)

Away: at Utah ( Jan. 16)

Home: UCLA (Jan. 21)

Home: USC (Jan. 23)

Away: at Arizona State (Jan. 28)

Away: at Arizona (Jan. 30)

Home: Stanford (Feb. 4)

Home: Utah (Feb. 11)

Home: Colorado (Feb. 13)

Away: at Washington State (Feb. 18)

Away: at Washington (Feb. 20)

Home: Oregon State (Feb. 25)

Home: Oregon (Feb. 27)

Away: at Stanford (Mar. 6-7)

Three of Cal’s first four games are away from Berkeley. After opening up at home against Arizona State on December 3, Cal will then travel to UCLA on December 6, Oregon on December 31, and Oregon State on January 2. Cal will finally play their second and third home games of league play on January 7 and January 9 against Washington State and Washington. What makes this significant is the fact that Cal really struggled away from home last season, going 1-10 on the road and 1-3 at neutral sites. If Cal doesn’t win that opening game against Arizona State, they could easily be eying an 0-4 start to league play.

Another thing to note is that due to the 20 game league schedule, there isn’t as much of a schedule imbalance as in previous seasons. The only two games Cal doesn’t have is a home game against Arizona and a road game at USC. Aside from that, they’re facing everyone both at home and away. The main thing to look for is the order of opponent and how home and away games are staggered.

Going off that, having three straight home games against Stanford, Utah, and Colorado between February 4 and February 13 could set some wind in Cal’s sails provided they aren’t in too big of a hole. If you look at recent history, the Cal-Stanford men’s basketball games are always a toss-up and Colorado and Utah historically do far better at home than they do on the road. While the opening part of the schedule is tough, having that three game home stretch in February could be quite nice.

If Cal is going to find success this season, it’s going to need to come in the form of taking the pressure off junior guard Matt Bradley and finding a way to not stink it up on the road. Cal played very well at home last season, but away from Berkeley, they ranged from not very good to flat out terrible. They will not have a good season if they can’t figure out how to put together solid performances away from home.

As for Bradley, as good as he is, he cannot be expected to carry this Cal team on his shoulders. Upperclassmen Andre Kelly and Grant Anticevich will need to play major roles as well as grad transfers Makale Foreman and Ryan Betley. In truth, it will require a collective team effort, but those four outside of Bradley shoulder the most responsibility.

In terms of what’s next, Cal will open up their season tomorrow against Oregon State in Corvallis in a rare “non-conference” game against a Pac-12 opponent. That game should prove to be a nice test for Cal, who looks to turn a new leaf when it comes to playing away from Berkeley. For more details on that game, click here.