Cal's Confusing Bowl Possibilities for 2026

Eight reputable college football experts project which bowl Cal will wind up in

Cal lost to Hawaii in last year's Hawaii Bowl | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If you thought Cal’s bowl destination was difficult to predict the past two years, that’s nothing for what awaits in 2026.

Despite being members of the ACC the past two seasons, Cal was tied to Pac-12-affiliated bowls in 2024 and 2025, because of contract agreements.  That was the case in 2024, when Cal played in the LA Bowl. But last season, the Bears were sent to the Hawaii Bowl, even though the Pac-12 was not aligned with that bowl. Cal received an at-large invitation to the Hawaii Bowl, which had tie-ins to the Mountain West and American conferences.

Cal’s association with Pac-12 bowls was scheduled to end after the 2025 season, placing Cal in the pool for ACC-affiliated bowls.  However, because of further conference realignment (the Pac-12 is reborn with new members) and other postseason uncertainties, the bowl affiliations were frozen for one more year.

Some issues still need to be finalized, but at this point it means Cal could still go to a Pac-12 bowl (Alamo, Las Vegas, Holiday, Sun, Independence, Poinsettia), but the Bears are also eligible for one of the 10 ACC-affiliated bowls for the first time. Those bowls include the Holiday, Pop-Tarts, Gator, Pinstripes, Mayo, Sun, Military, Fenway, Gasparilla and an ESPN-designated bowl. The Holiday and Sun Bowl are part of both bowl affiliations.

Cal could even wind up in a bowl without a Pac-12 or an ACC affiliation, which is what happened last year.

Despite the vast possibilities and the fact that Cal will not play a game until its September 5 opener against UCLA, eight respected sources projected a bowl destination for the Bears this season.

They projected six different bowl destinations for the Bears with seven different opponents. One predicted that Cal would not get to any bowl, suggesting Cal would not win at least six regular-season games.

The Las Vegas Bowl was the only postseason game predicted for Cal by two sites. One site even put Cal in a bowl that has not yet determined the date for its game.

Of course, Cal could eliminate the confusion by qualifying for one of the 12 berths in the College Football Playoff. But Cal was picked to finish 12th in the ACC, and none of the eight bowl-projection sources put Cal in the CFP in Tosh Lupoi's first season as the Golden Bear' head coach.

Here are the eight projections:

USA Today (Erick Smith)

No bowl for Cal, but 11 other ACC teams are projected to be in bowls

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CBS Sports (Brad Crawford)

Las Vegas Bowl, December 31 – Cal vs. Illinois

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College Football News (Pete Fiutak)

Las Vegas Bowl, December 31 – Cal vs. South Carolina

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SI (Bryan Fischer)

First Responder Bowl, January 2 – Cal vs. Minnesota

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ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

New Mexico Bowl, December 24 – Cal vs. UNLV (but Cal faces UNLV during the regular season).

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ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

Frisco Bowl, December 23 – Cal vs. Western Kentucky

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Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan)

Poinsettia Bowl, date yet to be determined – Cal vs. San Diego State

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On3 (Brett McMurphy)

Independence Bowl, December 22 – Cal vs. West Virginia