RENO - Nevada will play host to California at Mackay Stadium for the first time ever next season as the schools have reached an agreement in principle on a three-game series, officials from both schools announced Thursday.
Under the agreement, Cal will come to Reno to play Nevada on Sept. 18, 2010, and the Wolf Pack will visit Berkeley twice in future years. Dates for those games in Berkeley will be announced at a later date.
Nevada is just 1-22-1 against the Bears. The teams have played each other only once (1996) since 1934.
"We are very excited to have this preliminary agreement with Cal as it is a natural fit," Nevada senior associate athletic director Rory Hickok said in a statement. "In terms of a regional matchup between two highly competitive teams, this series makes sense."
The game against Cal in 2010 will begin a stretch of seven straight seasons in which Nevada will play at least one Pac-10 team.
Nevada had been scheduled to play host to San Diego State on Sept. 18 next season but that game has been pushed back to later date after a series of discussions between the schools. Nevada played at San Diego State in 2004 and the Aztecs will return the trip to Reno on Sept. 10, 2016.
Hickok added that the dialogue between Nevada and San Diego State has led to further scheduling opportunities in other sports.
"I think both schools realized that it is in our best interests to pursue home-and-home scheduling arrangements for men's and women's basketball as well," Hickok said.
"We're excited to continue the discussion and get those deals in place."