The Bears have been selected as a 4 seed despite some concern because of a record number of NIT automatic qualifiers, and will face the Mississippi Rebels. The game will be held at Haas Pavilion at 6:00 pm PST this Wednesday, and will be aired live on ESPN2. You can find the entire NIT first round schedule here.
The Bears have arguably been placed in the most difficult NIT bracket, but it also creates some potentially exciting matchups. If Cal can get past Mississippi they would likely face soon-to-be Pac-12 conference mates Colorado, and if they progress even further they could end up playing just 20 minutes away from home in Moraga against the St. Mary's Gaels with a trip to New York on the line.
But for now the focus is on Ole Miss. The Rebels and/or Black Bears finished with a record of 20-13 in the SEC and have impressive home wins over Kentucky, Penn St. and Alabama, but have generally struggled on the road with a record of just 4-7 (Best road win: Arkansas?). That's good news for a Cal team with a solid record in Berkeley. The Rebels are led by 5'10'' senior point guard Chris Warren, and generally play excellent offensive basketball. Not a gimme matchup by any means, but the Bears will likely be favorites at home. Go Bears!