Cal Confirms Non-Conference Games vs. USC, Vanderbilt and Houston – Sports Illustrated

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Home games against USC and Vanderbilt and a trip to South Lake Tahoe to face Houston highlight the Cal men’s basketball non-conference schedule, revealed by the athletic department on Monday.
We previously published a report on the Bears' schedule, but Monday marked Cal's official announcement.
The Bears, coming off a 22-12 campaign in 2025-26, will face former Pac-12 rival USC at Haas Pavilion on Wednesday, Nov. 11. The Trojans, 18-14 a year ago, were tabbed No. 13 in Dick Vitale’s preseason top-25.
USC is led by a potent freshman class featuring three McDonald’s All-Americans. Christian Collins, a 6-foot-9 forward from Inglewood, Calif., was rated the nation’s No. 5 prospect by ESPN. Twins Adonis Ratliff, a 6-foot-11 forward, and Darius Ratliff, a 7-foot center, are the sons of former NBA star Theo Ratliff. 
Sophomore guard Alijah Arenas, the son of ex-NBA all-star Gilbert Arenas, averaged 14.1 points last season after missing the first 18 games due to injury. 
The Bears take on Vanderbilt in Berkeley on Sunday, Dec. 12. The Commodores check in at No. 21 in Vitale’s early top-25 after going 27-9 last season and advancing to the second-round of the NCAA tournament. 
Vandy returns leading scorer Tyler Tanner, a 6-foot junior guard, who averaged 19.5 points and 5.1 assists last season to earn first-team All-SEC honors.
The Cal-Houston game will be part of a quadruple header at the Caesars Lake Tahoe Classic, Sunday, Nov. 8 at the Tahoe Blue Events Center. The Cougars were 30-7 last year and reached the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament. Vitale has them at No. 12 in his preseason rankings.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson brought in a top-20 high school recruiting class along with senior point guard transfer Dedan Thomas Jr., who averaged 15.3 points and 6.5 assists in 16 games at LSU last season before a season-ending foot injury. 
The Bears also face Minnesota on Saturday, Nov. 28 at Sioux Falls, SD, and will take on Utah in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Dec. 2, their only non-conference game to be played on the opponent’s home court.
The schedule opens at Haas with a Monday, Nov. 2 game against Adams State. 
Other home games on the Bears’ non-conference schedule: Nov. 4 vs. Radford, Nov. 14 vs. Utah Tech, Nov. 19 vs. East Texas A&M, Nov. 23 vs. Alabama State, Dec. 10  vs. Southeastern Louisiana, Dec. 12 vs. Southern,  and Dec. 22 vs. Northeastern.
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Jeff Faraudo was a sports writer for Bay Area daily newspapers since he was 17 years old, and was the Oakland Tribune's Cal beat writer for 24 years. He covered eight Final Fours, four NBA Finals and four Summer Olympics. 
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