An early conference season men's soccer showdown highlights a busy weekend coming up for Cal Athletics.

The Bears' men's soccer team opens Pac-12 play Friday at home against San Diego State, and then welcomes conference favorite UCLA to Edwards Stadium on Sunday. The match against the Bruins will air on the Pac-12 Networks.

UCLA is ranked No. 9 in the country and is the defending Pac-12 champion, but the Bears are off to a hot start at 5-2-1 and could challenge the Bruins in the conference race.

Also:

• The football team returns home after a two-game road trip and looks to get on the board in Pac-12 play when it hosts Arizona State at 1 p.m. The Bears have won four in a row over the Sun Devils and eight of the last nine.
• The women's volleyball team goes on the road for the second straight week to begin Pac-12 play when it visits Arizona State on Friday night at 6 p.m. and Arizona on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. At the end of the week, the Bears will have played 10 of their first 14 matches on the road.
• After dropping its conference opener to Arizona, the No. 19 women's soccer team welcomes Oregon and Oregon State to town for matches on Friday and Sunday. Sunday's game against the No. 20 Beavers airs on the Pac-12 Networks at 1:30 p.m.
• The fourth-ranked men's water polo team takes part in the SoCal Invitational in Santa Barbara, kicking things off with a match against Air Force on Saturday.
• The field hockey team hosts rival Stanford on Friday at 12:30 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks, then goes on the road for a game at UC Davis on Sunday.
• Cal's women's tennis team begins its fall schedule by hosting the Cal Nike Invitational. More than 80 players from 13 schools will be in action in both singles and doubles. The tourney runs Friday through Sunday at the Hellman Tennis Complex and Channing Tennis Courts.
• The men's and women's cross country teams compete in the Stanford Invitational on Saturday morning. The men go first with their 8000-meter race, followed by the 6000-meter race for the women.