California has won its last nine opening games. That streak should easily continue against Rice.

The Golden Bears are going to be extremely strong this season with three of their top scorers back and bringing in a strong recruiting class. The Golden Bears are especially strong in the backcourt where Jordan Mathews and Jabari Bird are now joined by Georgetown transfer Stephen Domingo.

Cal also has a pair of 7-footers coming off the bench to bolster its already strong frontcourt that will have a huge size advantage in this matchup.

Rice is an extremely young team that is going to be vulnerable early in the season with just one senior and 10 freshmen/sophomores.