Cal Bowl Projections: Some Odd Predictions for the Bears

It seems to be a pretty safe bet that Cal (3-0) will be in a bowl game for the second straight year, but some of the projections for the Bears’ bowl destination and bowl opponent are head-scratchers.

All eight of the respected college football experts we cite predict Cal will be in a bowl game. Three of those sites project that Cal will wind up in the LA Bowl for the second straight season, and two place the Bears in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Those projections seem reasonable.

But College Football News projects Cal will wind up in the Fenway Bowl, which is an outside-the-box prediction. The Fenway Bowl takes place in Boston and is not one of the bowls that Cal is tied to this season. The Fenway Bowl does have a tie-in with the Atlantic Coast Conference, which is Cal’s current conference, but teams that were members of the Pac-12 in 2023, such as Cal, still have tie-ins to six Pac-12 bowl games this season based on contracts.

The other odd bowl-matchup prediction comes from SI.com. It suggests that Cal will play in the Sun Bowl, which is plausible, but claims the Bears' opponent in that game will be SMU. Well, Cal plays SMU in both teams’ final regular-season game this year, and setting up a bowl matchup in which the teams would play each other for the second game in a row seems a bit silly.

One projected bowl pairing that sounds unexciting is the USA Today prediction that Cal will face UNLV in the LA Bowl. That would have a Groundhog Day feeling because Cal and UNLV played each other in the LA Bowl last season, and it didn’t turn out well for the Bears.

Oh well, let’s carry on.

Cal faces San Diego State on the Aztecs home field on Saturday night, and with Cal being a 12.5-point favorite in that game, the Bears could become 4-0, perhaps shaking up the projections for the Bears' bowl destination. Losing to the Aztecs would certainly affect Cal's postseason plans.

Here are the bowl projections for Cal from eight experts (All times are Pacific times):

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

Las Vegas Bowl – Cal vs. Michigan

Wednesday, December 31

Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas)

12:30 p.m., ESPN

ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

Las Vegas Bowl – Cal vs. Iowa

Wednesday, December 31

Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas)

12:30 p.m., ESPN

CBS Sports (Brad Crawford)