Cal Bowl Projections: Experts Put Bears in a Bowl Despite Loss

Despite its humbling 34-0 loss to San Diego State, Cal (3-1) still looks like a bowl team. At least that’s the opinion of college football experts.

All eight of the reputable sites that projected bowl-game pairings this week predict that Cal will play in a postseason game. However, there is disagreement on which bowl will host the Bears and who their opponent would be.

Three of the eight sites we cited predict Cal will be in the LA Bowl, the same bowl Cal played in last season. USA Today’s Erick Smith and Kyle Bonagura of ESPN went so far as to project that UNLV will be Cal’s opponent in that game, and that would be a rematch of last season, when the Rebels beat Cal 24-13 in the 2024 LA Bowl at SoFi Stadium.

Two experts predict that Cal will wind up in the Las Vegas Bowl, and two others project that Cal will wind up in the Independence Bowl. One site put Cal in the First Responder Bowl.

Cal’s chances to land a bowl berth for the third straight season will be enhanced or reduced based on how the Bears do in their ACC opener this Saturday at Boston College (1-2). As of Tuesday, Boston College is 6.5-point favorite over Cal in that game.

It should be noted that teams that were members of the Pac-12 in 2023, such as Cal, are still tied to six Pac-12 bowl games this season because of contracts signed a few years ago. Cal is not tied to the ACC-affiliated bowls this season.

Here are the bowl projections for Cal this week from the eight experts. (all times are Pacific time.)

ESPN (Kyle Bonaura)

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

Saturday, December 13

SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, California)

6 p.m., ESPN

ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

Las Vegas Bowl – Cal vs. Nebraska

Wednesday, December 31

Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas)

12:30 p.m., ESPN

CBS Sports (Brad Crawford)