Cal Bowl Projections: Gasparilla Bowl? New Mexico Bowl?

The Cal bowl projection question of the day is this: What is Gasparilla? We ask because Bryan Fischer of SI predicts this week that Cal will play in the Gasparilla Bowl.

Well, it turns out that Gasparilla is a day of pageantry and parades in Tampa, Florida, that began in 1904 thanks to the Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla. It was inspired by pirate José Gaspar, who was known by his nickname Gasparilla and supposedly terrorized the Gulf of Mexico around 1800. It’s unclear whether he actually existed or is merely a fictitious legend, with most of the evidence suggesting the latter.

Anyway, Fischer predicts that Cal will face Central Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl, which would put Cal 2,400 miles away from home in a bowl that is named for a pirate who probably never existed. It seems unlikely Cal would be in that bowl since that game has primary tie-ins to the Mountain West Conference and Conference-USA with secondary affiliations with the American Conference, Mid-American Conference and Sun Belt. But you can never tell how the bowl matchups will turn out.

All eight of the college football experts we cited predict that Cal (4-1, 1-0 ACC) will wind up in a bowl, although there are differing opinions on which bowl it will be and who Cal’s opponent will be.

Kyle Bonagura of ESPN is one of the most trusted voices on these matters and he projects that Cal will face Boise State in the New Mexico Bowl. That bowl has primary tie-ins with the American Conference and the Southeastern Conference with a secondary affiliation with the ACC.

Cal might fit into that bowl somehow, but Cal is not tied to ACC bowls this year. Teams that were in the Pac-12 in 2023, such as Cal, are tied to Pac-12-affiliated bowls this season. (Pac-12-affiliated bowls are listed at the end of this report.)

Heading into Saturday night’s home game against Duke (3-2, 2-0 ACC), Cal has to win just two of its seven remaining games to get the six wins needed to become bowl-eligible. This week’s ESPN’s College Football Power Index predicts that Cal has an 85.5% chance of getting at least six victories.

Here are the eight projections for Cal’s possible bowl matchups. (All times are Pacific time.)

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

New Mexico Bowl – Cal vs. Boise State

Saturday, December 27

University Stadium (Albuquerque, New Mexico)

2:45 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)