Cal GM Ron Rivera Says 8 or 9 Wins Would Be a Successful Season

This a pivotal year for Cal football in general and Justin Wilcox specifically.

So what would constitute a successful 2025 season for the Golden Bears, who were picked to finish 15th in the 17-team ACC in the preseason media poll?

Cal football general manager Ron Rivera has a ready answer to that question:

“Anything that puts us in a solid bowl game, eight, nine wins, I think that’s what you’re looking for,” Rivera said Wednesday. “That shows growth, growth from last year. Last year we didn’t win the close games. We gotta win the close games. If we want to win eight or nine for sure. Last year, that’s how close it was.”

In three consecutive games midway through last season, Cal lost to Miami by one point, lost to Pittsburgh by two points and lost to North Carolina State by one point. If Cal had won those three games it would have finished with 9-3 regular-season record instead of 6-6. And that does not include the five-point loss to Florida State in the game preceding that three-game run of close losses.

Rivera’s goal of eight or nine wins to consider the season a success is ambitious, since virtually every betting site puts Cal’s over-under win total for the season at 5.5 victories. The Bears lost a lot of talent by way of the transfer portal in the offseason, and they will be starting a true freshman quarterback (Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele), so the challenge of winning eight or nine games is significant.

Rivera's outlook on what Cal can accomplish is important because he is the person responsible for hiring and firing the Golden Bears' football coach.

Cal's four nonconference games to start the season are games Cal can win, and games Cal needs to win. Cal is likely to be favored in two of those games (Texas Southern and San Diego State), but will be a slight underdog in the other two (Oregon State, which is favored by 3 points at the moment, and Minnesota).

But the pressure to win those games is increasing, not only because Cal has not had a winning season since 2019, but with revenue sharing with players beginning this year, Cal needs to maximize its revenue.

“We know that the clock is ticking, there’s a lot of pressure to be successful, especially in today’s climate,” Rivera said, “and so for us, it’s [about] putting ourselves in position where we can win those [close] games.”

Getting people to come to Cal home games is also important in the financial scheme. Cal ranked ninth in the ACC in home attendance last year, averaging 39,173 people per game. That was boosted by two sellouts of 52,428, against Miami and Stanford. Cal plays the Cardinal on the road this season, so what would be considered a success for Cal attendance this year?

“By the time the season’s over, it’s filled,” said Rivera said. “That’s the goal.”

The Bears' final home game is against SMU, and if Cal is having a good season, a home game against a nationally ranked Mustangs team might draw a big crowd.

Rivera also wants people to watch Cal games on TV, because the Bay Area is ranked anywhere from the sixth to 12th-largest media market in the country, depending on how you define the Bay Area market. TV rating would help considerably, and Rivera says Cal needs Stanford’s help in that regard.

“The goal is to win, generate some momentum, generate some enthusiasm, capture the East Bay,” Rivera said. “And I’m going to say this, too: Us and Stanford have to capture the Bay.”

Showing that the ACC owns the Bay Area would pay dividends down the road.

“This is one of the largest TV markets in the NFL” Rivera said. “[If] we capture this together, we own this together, we become very desirable.”

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