BERKELEY — California will welcome generations of former players, families and friends to Witter Rugby Field this weekend when the Golden Bears celebrate Homecoming against Utah on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 1 p.m.

Gates open at 10:30 a.m. for the 11 a.m. curtain raiser between Jesuit High School and Lamorinda Youth Rugby Club before the Bears (9-1, 3-0 PAC) and Utes (5-2, 1-0 PAC) take the pitch to continue their PAC Rugby rivalry with a weather forecast of sunny skies and temperatures expected in the 60s.

Tickets for Cal students, current military personnel and all youth under 12 are free; groups of 10 or more are $3 each; adults are $10 each; and youth ages 12-19, as well as seniors 65 and over, are $5 apiece. A recently opened parking lot on Gayley Road, across from Haas Business School about 100 yards south of the intersection of Stadium Rim Way, offers additional parking in addition to limited spaces at Witter Rugby Field.

Prior to Homecoming, the Bears have a midweek match under the lights against Cal Maritime on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m., and will send a largely frosh-soph lineup into that contest riding a three-match winning streak, most recently beating UCLA in Los Angeles on Feb. 21 by the score of 18-12.

Its only losses so far this season to Saint Mary's and Brigham Young, Utah will be playing its first 15s match in three weeks when the Utes take the pitch against the Blue and Gold. In their last 15s outing, Utah defeated UCLA in Los Angeles by the score of 38-0.

With those UCLA results as a sample set, the Bears know they are in for an all-out, 80-minute battle this Saturday against a Utah team that has provided opposition for the PAC conference decider in 15s the past two years. In 2013, the Bears put in a controlled performance and scored seven tries to defeat Utah, 51-29, clinching the inaugural conference title. Last spring, Cal claimed its second straight PAC title in 15s with a 43-31 win over the Utes in Salt Lake City, offsetting four Utah tries with six of its own.

A win on Saturday would go a long way toward clinching Cal its third straight PAC Rugby Conference championship in the 15-a-side game, with only one match remaining on the Bears' conference schedule the following Saturday, March 7, at Oregon State. A victory by the Blue and Gold would put the conference crown out of reach for second-place UCLA, which travels to Arizona this Saturday and goes back to the desert to face ASU on March 7.

The Utes, currently third in the PAC, will remain mathematically alive in the conference race even with a loss this weekend to the Bears, since Utah can still rack up three more wins on its schedule and eke past Cal on bonus points if the Bears suffered a shocker in Corvallis. If Utah manages to upset the Bears at Homecoming, Cal would be vulnerable to being outpointed in the conference standings by both the Utes and the Bruins.

Cal will control its conference destiny on the pitch this Saturday while the sidelines and stands will be controlled by the uplifting spirit of multitudes of alumni, including the 1985 team, coach Clark's first to win a national collegiate championship, which will be celebrating its 30th anniversary.

The matchup between the Utes and Rugby Bears promises to be just one aspect of a memorable and exciting day marking Spring 2015 Homecoming in Strawberry Canyon.