Cal Bowl Projections: Some Experts Have Bears in a Bowl, Some Don't

Cal is just two games into its 12-game schedule heading into Saturday’s home game against Wagner (1-2), so bowl projections at this point are little more than guesses.

Before the season started, all eight of the college football experts we cite projected Cal to be in a bowl. This week, after Cal lost to UCLA 45-24 in its opener and slipped past Syracuse 21-18 in its second game, only five of those eight experts project Cal to be in a bowl.

The Poinsettia Bowl is the only bowl site projected for Cal by more than one of the five sites that place Cal in a bowl.

Cal will still be assigned to one of the Pac-12-affiliated bowls this season if the Bears become bowl-eligible with at least six wins, and those game are identified at the end of this report.

Here are the eight projections:

On SI (Bryan Fischer)

Poinsettia Bowl – Cal vs. San Diego State

CBS Sports (Brad Crawford)

Poinsettia Bowl – Cal vs. North Dakota State

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

No bowl for Cal

ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

Armed Forces Bowl – Cal vs. Army

On3 (Brett McMurphy)

No bowl for Cal

College Football News (Pete Fiutak)

Independence Bowl – Cal vs. Tulane

Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan)

New Mexico Bowl – Cal vs. New Mexico

USA Today (Erick Smith)

No bowl for Cal

Teams, such as Cal, that were members of the Pac-12 in 2023 are still directed to Pac-12-affiliated bowls, not ACC-affiliated bowls. This is expected to be the last season for that arrangement, but nothing is certain.

Here is the pecking order for bowls that will include 2023 Pac-12 members, which are known as Legacy Pac-12 teams. The Legacy Pac-12 teams are Cal, Stanford, Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado.

--- 1. Alamo Bowl (Legacy Pac-12 vs. Big 12) – December 28, 6 p.m. Pacific time, at the Alamodome in San Antonio Texas. TV: ESPN.

--- 2. Las Vegas Bowl (Legacy Pac-12 vs. SEC/Big Ten) – December 31, 12:45 p.m. Pacific time, at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada. TV: ESPN.

--- 3. Holiday Bowl (Legacy Pac-12 vs. ACC) – December 28, 2 p.m. Pacific time, at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California. TV: ESPN.

--- 4. Sun Bowl (Legacy Pac-12 vs. ACC) – December 31, 11 a.m. Pacific time, at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas. TV: CBS.

--- 5. Poinsettia Bowl (Legacy Pac-12 vs. current Pac-12) – December 23, 4:30 p.m. Pacific time, at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California. TV: CW Network.

--- 6. Independence Bowl (Legacy Pac-12 vs. Big 12) – December 22, 5:30 p.m. Pacific time, at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. TV: ESPN.

--- 7. ESPN bowl pool (possibly the Armed Forces Bowl, Gasparilla Bowl and First Responders Bowl)

If there is no bowl spot available for a bowl-eligible Cal team, the Bears might be able to go to an ACC-affiliated bowl.

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