Pac-12, CFP Bowl Projections: Five Experts Predict Cal Will Be in a Bowl
Suddenly the experts who project bowl matchups provide optimism for Cal fans. Five of the 10 college football sites we cited predict that the Golden Bears will play in a bowl game, although they slot Cal into four different bowl games -- LA Bowl, Gasparilla Bowl, First Responder Bowl and Armed Forces Bowl. (Cal bowl destinations indicated in bold letters below.)
Cal (4-6) has some work to do to make that happen. The Golden Bears, fresh off an encouraging 41-11 win over Stanford, would need to beat UCLA in Pasadena on Saturday, then also defeat USC in Berkeley on Dec. 4 to become bowl-eligible. (There are other possibilities, which can been explained here, but the most likely postseason scenario for Cal is to win its final two games.)
At the moment, only six Pac-12 teams have the six wins needed to be bowl-eligible -- Oregon, Utah, Oregon State, UCLA, Arizona State and Washington State -- so there is no assurance the Pac-12 will have enough eligible teams for all the bowls with Pac-12 tie-ins.
With a College Football Playoff berth now off the table for the Pac-12, the most intriguing bowl projection is the Rose Bowl. Seven of the 10 experts project Utah to be in the Rose Bowl, with the other three predicting Oregon will be in the Rose Bowl. Eight of the nine sites that list bowl pairings expect Michigan to be the Big Ten's entry in the Rose Bowl.
One expert, ESPN's Kyle Bonagura, projects two Pac-12 teams to get berths in New Year's Six bowls -- Utah in Rose Bowl and Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.
All nine experts who project CFP pairings predict that Georgia and Ohio State will be in the College Football Playoff, with Cincinnati, Alabama and Cincinnati put in the CFP semifinals by some of them.
Here are the projections posted by Nov. 22, the day before this week's College Football Playoff rankings are revealed on Tuesday.
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Rose Bowl – Utah vs. Michigan
Fiesta Bowl – Oregon vs. Notre Dame
Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Oklahoma
Las Vegas Bowl – Arizona State vs. Minnesota
Holiday Bowl – Washington State vs. Clemson
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Virginia
LA Bowl – Texas-San Antonio vs. San Diego State
---Cotton Bowl (national semifinal): Alabama vs. Ohio State
---Orange Bowl (national semifinal): Georgia vs. Cincinnati
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Rose Bowl – Utah vs. Michigan
Fiesta Bowl – Oregon vs. Baylor
Alamo Bowl – Arizona State vs. Oklahoma
Las Vegas Bowl – UCLA vs. Wisconsin
Holiday Bowl – Oregon State vs. North Carolina State
Sun Bowl – Washington State vs. Miami (Fla.)
LA Bowl – Cal vs. San Diego State
---Cotton Bowl (national semifinal): Alabama vs. Ohio State
---Orange Bowl (national semifinal): Georgia vs. Cincinnati
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Sports Illustrated (Richard Johnson)
Rose Bowl – Utah vs. Wisconsin
Alamo Bowl – Oregon vs. Oklahoma State
Las Vegas Bowl – Arizona State vs. Florida Atlantic
Holiday Bowl – UCLA vs. Syracuse
Sun Bowl – Washington State vs. Miami (Fla.)
LA Bowl – Oregon State vs. San Diego State
---Cotton Bowl (national semifinal): Ohio State vs. Cincinnati
---Orange Bowl (national semifinal): Georgia vs. Notre Dame
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Action Network (Brett McMurphy)
Rose Bowl – Utah vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – Oregon vs. Oklahoma
Las Vegas Bowl – UCLA vs. Penn State
Holiday Bowl – Arizona State vs. North Carolina State
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Miami (Fla.)
LA Bowl – Washington State vs. San Diego State
---Cotton Bowl (national semifinal): Ohio State vs. Oklahoma State
---Orange Bowl (national semifinal): Georgia vs. Alabama
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Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Baylor
Las Vegas Bowl – Arizona State vs. Purdue
Holiday Bowl – UCLA vs. Wake Forest
Sun Bowl – Washington State vs. North Carolina
LA Bowl – Oregon State vs. Fresno State
---Cotton Bowl (national semifinal): Ohio State vs. Cincinnati
---Orange Bowl (national semifinal): Georgia vs. Alabama
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Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Oklahoma
Las Vegas Bowl – UCLA vs. Purdue
Holiday Bowl – Arizona State vs. North Carolina State
Sun Bowl – Washington State vs. Miami (Fla.)
LA Bowl – Oregon State vs. San Diego State
Gasparilla Bowl – Cal vs. Florida
---Cotton Bowl (national semifinal): Oklahoma State vs. Ohio State
---Orange Bowl (national semifinal): Georgia vs. Cincinnati
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Rose Bowl – Utah vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – Oregon State vs. Baylor
Las Vegas Bowl – Arizona State vs. Penn State
Holiday Bowl – Oregon vs. North Carolina State
Sun Bowl – UCLA vs. Miami (Fla.)
LA Bowl – Washington State vs. San Diego State
First Responder Bowl – Cal vs. Toledo
---Cotton Bowl (national semifinal): Ohio State vs. Alabama
---Orange Bowl (national semifinal): Georgia vs. Cincinnati
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Rose Bowl – Utah vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – Oregon vs. Baylor
Las Vegas Bowl – Arizona State vs. Penn State
Holiday Bowl – UCLA vs. North Carolina
Sun Bowl – Washington State vs. Miami (Fla.)
LA Bowl – Oregon State vs. San Diego State
Armed Forces Bowl – Cal vs. Army
---Cotton Bowl (national semifinal): Alabama vs. Ohio State
---Orange Bowl (national semifinal): Georgia vs. Cincinnati
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Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – Oregon State vs. Baylor
Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. Wisconsin
Holiday Bowl – Arizona State vs. Miami (Fla.)
Sun Bowl – UCLA vs. Louisville
LA Bowl – USC vs. Fresno State
---Cotton Bowl (national semifinal): Ohio State vs. Alabama
---Orange Bowl (national semifinal): Georgia vs. Cincinnati
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San Jose Mercury News (Jon Wilner)
No opponent noted
Rose Bowl -- Utah
Alamo Bowl -- Oregon
Las Vegas Bowl -- UCLA
Holiday Bowl -- Arizona State
Sun Bowl -- Washington State
LA Bowl -- Oregon State
ESPN Bowl (Gasparilla, First Responder, Armed Forces) -- Cal
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Here are the bowls with Pac-12 tie-ins, listed in their pecking order:
College Football Playoff semifinals (if a Pac-12 team finishes among the top four teams in the final College Football Playoff rankings): Cotton Bowl, Dec. 31, 12:30 p.m. Pacific time or 4:30 p.m. Pacific time, Arlington, Texas (AT&T Stadium), ESPN, and Orange Bowl, Dec. 31, 12:30 p.m. Pacific time or 4:30 p.m. Pacific time, Miami Gardens, Fla. (Hard Rock Stadium), ESPN.
1. Rose Bowl: Jan. 1, 2 p.m. Pacific time, Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl Stadium), ESPN – Pac-12 vs. Big Ten.
2. Alamo Bowl: Dec. 29, 6:15 p.m. Pacific time, San Antonio (Alamodome), ESPN – Pac-12 vs. Big 12.
3. Las Vegas Bowl: Dec. 30, 7:30 p.m. Pacific time, Las Vegas (Allegiant Stadium), ESPN – Pac-12 vs. Big Ten
4. Holiday Bowl: Dec. 28, 5:30 p.m. Pacific time, San Diego (Petco Park), FOX/FS1 – Pac-12 vs. ACC
5. Sun Bowl: Dec. 31, 9:30 a.m. Pacific time, El Paso, Texas (Sun Bowl Stadium), CBS – Pac-12 vs. ACC
6. LA Bowl: Dec. 18, 4:30 p.m. Pacific time, Inglewood, Calif. (SoFi Stadium), ABC – Pac-12 vs. Mountain West.
First Responder Bowl -- The Pac-12 might occupy a spot in this bowl against a team from the ACC, American Athletic or Big 12.
Gasparilla Bowl -- The Pac-12 might fill an opening in this bowl against a team from the Big 12, ACC or SEC.
Armed Forces Bowl -- The Pac-12 could get a berth in this bowl
The Redbox Bowl (also known as the San Francisco Bowl) would have been No. 7 in the pecking order of Pac-12 bowls and was to match a Pac-12 team against a Big Ten team, but it has been canceled for the second straight year.
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Cover photo of Cal Big Game celebration by Stan Szeto, USA TODAY Sports
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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
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