Cal Football's Change of Direction Leads Top 10 Stories of 2025

Cal women’s and men’s basketball made breakthroughs in 2025, the Bears’ rugby team racked up another national title and a freshman quarterback captured the attention of football fans.

Two Golden Bear alums delivered unprecedented performances, adding to a year packed with elite moments.

But no Cal-related news story was bigger than the transition taking place inside Memorial Stadium, where change trickled down from the highest level of campus administration to create a tantalizing landscape heading into 2026.

Here are our top 10 Cal stories of 2025:

New Cal coach Tosh Lupoi during practice at Oregon | Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

1. After nearly a decade, Cal football changes course

Cal football over most of nine seasons under coach Justin Wilcox was generally competitive, never embarrassing and sometimes surprising. But in the changing world of college football, the Bears didn’t seem to be keeping up.

They were not title contenders, they didn’t thrill or inspire the fan base, they mostly weren’t part of the conversation.

We didn’t know it at the time, but the process of re-routing that narrative began in July of 2024 when Rich Lyons was hired as new chancellor at Berkeley. The first Cal undergrad to ascend to that role, Lyons was a student in the grandstands when the Bears pulled off The Play in the 1982 Big Game.

He understood what football buzz could mean to life on campus, including its potential financial impact. And last spring he hired Cal football legend and long-time NFL head coach Ron Rivera as football team’s first general manager, giving him new resources and authority over the program.

Rivera described his mission as making the Bears relevant again, not only in the Bay Area but on the national scene. When the next wave of change comes to college football — and everyone is sure it will — Rivera’s charge is making sure Cal has a seat at the table.

The 2025 season brought a somewhat better level of football, but with some familiar hiccups, including a puzzling 34-0 loss at San Diego State. When the Bears were thrashed 31-10 at Stanford, Rivera responded, dismissing Wilcox a day later.

It took Rivera less than two weeks to find his man. Tosh Lupoi, 44, was the overwhelming fan favorite, a Bay Area native, passionate Cal alum, tireless recruiter. He has worked under Nick Saban, coached in the NFL and, as defensive coordinator at Oregon, is helping the Ducks pursue a national title in the College Football Playoff.

Lupoi is quickly assembling his coaching staff and shortly will begin what promises to be a fascinating recruiting season. We don’t know how good the Bears might be in 2026, but we know they’ll be worth watching. And that’s the first step.

Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

2. QB Sagapolutele shines . . . and stays

The first true freshman quarterback since Jared Goff to start the season opener for the Bears, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele exceeded all reasonable expectations while holding down that assignment for all 13 games.

The left-hander from Hawaii led all FBS freshmen quarterbacks with 3,460 passing yards — sixth-most in Cal history. He made big plays in the biggest moments, including a game-winning touchdown pass to Jacob De Jesus on fourth down in overtime, lifting the Bears to a 29-26 road victory over No. 15 Louisville.

Sagapolutele threw 18 touchdown passes and, over the Bears’ final six games had nine TDs and just two interceptions. He showed a big arm and leadership qualities that far exceeded his tender age of 19.

But it wasn’t only what Sagapolutele did . . . it was what he didn’t do. He did not leave. A year after Fernando Mendoza led an exodus of top players to the transfer portal — eventually landing at Indiana, where he won the Heisman Trophy — Sagapolutele is staying the course.

On the day he was introduced as Cal’s new coach, Lupoi made a late-night visit to Sagapolutele and his parents at the family home at Ewa Beach. He convinced the promising quarterback to stick around, giving the Bears a centerpiece for its 2026 team.

Cal coach Charmin Smith | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

3. Women’s hoops breaks out

Picked 12th in their first season in the ACC, the Cal women were the surprise team of the league. They finished seventh — one game out of a tie for fourth — and earned their first NCAA tournament bid since 2019.

Coach Charmin Smith’s squad swept Stanford in two regular-season games for the first time in 39 years, ending a 10-year drought against its rival at Maples Pavilion. Five Golden Bears averaged double digits, topped by sharpshooting guard Ioanna Krimili, one of four senior starters.

The Bears, who climbed as high as No. 18 in the AP Top-25, lost 59-46 to Mississippi State in their NCAA opener but not before compiling 25 victories.

Cal's rugby team celebrates its championship | Guy Warren Photography

4. Cal claims 29th rugby XVs national title

In the highest-scoring national championship in D1A history, the Bears beat Life University 55-38 on May 3 at Indianapolis to capture their 29th rugby XVs crown.

Including their five sevens titles, the Bears have won 34 rugby championships overall. Coach Jack Clark accounts for 30 of those, 25 in the traditional 15-a-side competition.

This team posted a 15-1 record, its only loss a 27-3 setback to Navy at Annapolis.

But when the national tournament arrived, the Bears were ready. They walloped Colorado State and Arizona by a combined margin of 151-52 in the first two rounds. Then they toppled local rival Saint Mary’s 38-27 in the semifinals to set up the finals showdown.

Cal newcomers Dai Dai Ames & John Camden | Photo by Iris Wang, Cal Athletics

5. An encouraging start for Cal men’s basketball

The ACC schedule doesn’t get under way until Tuesday, but third-year coach Mark Madsen’s squad is off to a start unmatched in more than six decades. The Bears’ 12-1 record, including a victory over UCLA, is the program’s best since the 1959-60 campaign, when Pete Newell directed the team to its second straight Final Four appearance.

The Bears have been mired in an historically grim stretch, without a winning season since the 2016-17 campaign. The year before Madsen was hired, Cal went 3-29, the worst season in program history.

Last year showed promise for the future until sophomore Andrej Stojakovic and freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson — who averaged a combined 30 points — jumped into the transfer portal after the season.

This year, with newcomers manning four starting spots, the Bears are bigger, deeper and more athletic than they’ve been in years. That will be put to a severe test Tuesday night at Haas Pavilion when No. 16 Louisville (10-2) pays a visit.

Camryn Rogers at the World Championships | USA Today

6. Camryn Rogers the world’s best once more

Reigning Olympic women’s hammer throw champion Camryn Rogers captured her second gold medal at the World Championships last summer at Tokyo, delivering the longest throw in the world since 2017.

The 26-year-old Canadian and Golden Bear alum unleashed a throw of 264 feet, 1 inch (80.51 meters), reaching the 80-meter barrier for the first time and climbing to No. 2 on the all-time world list.

At Tokyo, she had the two longest throws of her career, the four longest of the competition and won by nearly 10 feet. Rogers completed her 2025 campaign by winning 15 times in 16 competitions.

A 2022 Cal graduate, Rogers was a three-time NCAA champion and repeatedly broke the collegiate record. She still owns the 11 best marks in NCAA history.

Jacob De Jesus after his game-winning catch at Louisville | Photo by Al Sermeno

7. Jacob De Jesus leads the nation in receptions

At just 5-foot-7, senior Jacob De Jesus stands tall among the nation’s elite wide receivers.

The UNLV transfer, who grew up in the Central Valley community of Manteca, made an NCAA-leading and Cal program-record 108 pass receptions this season, second-most in ACC history. He had 51 of those catches over the final five games.

De Jesus, who broke Dameane Douglas’ 27-year-old Cal record of 100 receptions in a season, earned three spots on the All-ACC team — first-team all-purpose on offense and return specialist and second-team wide receiver.

Jaylen Brown maneuvers on Toronto defender | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

8. Jaylen Brown shows his best in Year 10 with Celtics

No one was expecting much from the Boston Celtics this season, not with perennial All-Star Jayson Tatum on the shelf with an Achilles injury. Jaylen Brown, a decade removed from his single season at Cal, has other ideas.

The 29-year-old is averaging a career-best 29.4 points, sixth-best in the league and on pace to be the highest-scoring NBA season by a Cal alum. Brown also is contributing 6.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists and seems a certainty to land his fifth All-Star invite.

More importantly, the 2024 Finals MVP has elevated a Celtics team expected to go nowhere this season. Boston has won eight of its past 10 games and sits in third place in the Eastern Conference with a 19-11 record.

Brown has posted eight consecutive games of at least 30 points, just one shy of Larry Bird’s 1985 franchise record of nine in a row. Among his 18 games overall of at least 30 points, he has sprinkled in outings of 41 and 42 points.

Cal's national championship 800 free relay team | Photo by Al Sermeno

9. Cal men’s swim extends run of national excellence

Put a Golden Bear in the water and good things tend to happen. That applies to water polo but certainly to swimming.

The Cal men’s swim squad continued an unparalleled run of brilliance, posting its 15th consecutive top-2 finish at the NCAA Championships.

The 2025 Bears wound up second behind Texas last season, and have claimed six titles and nine runner-up finishes since 2011. No other program nationally has achieved that.

Cal coach Dave Durden’s squad was led by the foursome of Jack Alexy, Gabriel Jett, Destin Lasco and Lucas Henveaux, who teamed up to win the 800 freestyle relay and scored heavy points throughout the meet.

Junhwan Park's teammates carry him off the field | Photo by Al Sermeno

10. Bears knock off soccer’s No. 1 in consecutive years

On Halloween, the Cal men’s soccer team put a fright into rival Stanford, posting a 1-0 victory over the nation’s top-ranked team in its regular-season finale.

Sophomore midfielder Junhwan Park scored the game-winner at Edwards Stadium, denying the Cardinal the ACC championship. The Bears’ first home victory of the season snapped Stanford’s 10-game unbeaten streak as well as its stretch of five consecutive shutouts.

The victory was the second in as many years for Cal over Stanford and came a year after the Bears knocked off No. 1 Pitt 1-0 on the road.

Cal (8-8-2) went on to claim ACC tournament victories over Duke and Pitt to reach the semifinals, where they were sent home after a 2-1 defeat to fourth-ranked and top-seeded Virginia.

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