Pac-12 Bowl Projections: Cal Could Face Former Coach Sonny Dykes
Three points need to be made regarding this week’s projected bowl matchups from eight college football experts:
1. No one predicts a Pac-12 team will be in the four-team College Football Playoff, one week after three of them had USC in the national semifinals. The Trojans' too-close-for-comfort, 17-14 win over Oregon State apparently scared them off even though the Trojans rose one spot to No. 6 in the rankings.
2. Seven of the eight experts predict that the Pac-12 will put teams into two New Year’s Six Bowls – the Rose Bowl and the Cotton Bowl.
3. Seven of the sites project that Cal will be in a bowl game, and two of them pair the Golden Bears with TCU in the First Responder Bowl. That matchup would pit Cal against its former coach, Sonny Dykes, who is in his first year as head coach of TCU.
Dykes was Cal’s head coach for four seasons from 2013 through 2016 and was the Bears head coach when Jared Goff was their quarterback. Dykes was dismissed after the 2016 season and was replaced by current Cal head coach Justin Wilcox. TCU is 3-0, but faces Oklahoma this week.
The pecking order of bowls with Pac-12 tie-ins, as well as the date and location of those bowls, is listed after the projections.
Here are the eight bowl projections for Pac-12 teams after four weeks.
Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl – Washington vs. Cincinnati
Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Oklahoma State
Las Vegas Bowl – Oregon State vs. Texas A&M
Holiday Bowl – Oregon vs. Syracuse
Sun Bowl – Washington State vs. Notre Dame
LA Bowl – UCLA vs. Air Force
Independence Bowl – Cal vs. Army
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Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – Washington vs. Kansas State
Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. Arkansas
Holiday Bowl – Oregon vs. Florida State
Sun Bowl – Cal vs. Syracuse
LA Bowl – UCLA vs. Air Force
Independence – Oregon State vs. Army
First Responder Bowl – Washington State vs. Kansas
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Rose Bowl – Utah vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl – Oregon vs. Coastal Carolina
Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Baylor
Las Vegas Bowl – Oregon State vs. LSU
Holiday Bowl – Washington vs. Florida State
Sun Bowl – UCLA vs. Syracuse
LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Fresno State
First Responder Bowl – Cal vs. Kansas
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Action Network (Brett McMurphy)
Rose Bowl – USC vs. Penn State
Cotton Bowl – Washington vs. Cincinnati
Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Baylor
Las Vegas Bowl – Oregon vs. Arkansas
Holiday Bowl – Oregon State vs. Florida State
Sun Bowl – UCLA vs. Wake Forest
LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Air Force
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Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl – Washington vs. Cincinnati
Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Oklahoma
Las Vegas Bowl – UCLA vs. Mississippi State
Holiday Bowl – Oregon vs. Pittsburgh
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Florida State
LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Fresno State
First Responder Bowl – Cal vs. SMU
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Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl – Oregon vs. Cincinnati
Alamo Bowl – Washington vs. Oklahoma
Las Vegas Bowl – Washington State vs. LSU
Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Notre Dame
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Louisville
LA Bowl – UCLA vs. Fresno State
First Responder Bowl – Cal vs. TCU
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Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl – Utah vs. Cincinnati
Alamo Bowl – Washington vs. Baylor
Las Vegas Bowl – Oregon vs. LSU
Holiday Bowl – UCLA vs. Pittsburgh
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Syracuse
LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Air Force
First Responder Bowl – Cal vs. TCU
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The Sporting News (Bill Bender)
Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl – Utah vs. Coastal Carolina
Alamo Bowl – Oregon vs. Oklahoma State
Las Vegas Bowl – UCLA vs. South Carolina
Holiday Bowl – Washington vs. Syracuse
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Florida State
LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV
First Responder Bowl – Washington State vs. Kansas State
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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): Peach Bowl, Dec. 31, 1 p.m. Pacific time or 5 p.m. Pacific time, Atlanta Ga., ESPN, and Fiesta Bowl, Dec. 31, 1 p.m. Pacific time or 5 p.m. Pacific time, Glendale, Ariz., ESPN.
1. Rose Bowl: Jan. 2, 2 p.m. Pacific time, Pasadena, Calif., ESPN – Pac-12 vs. Big Ten.
1A. New Year's Six Bowls -- A Pac-12 team could qualify for one of the other three New Year's Six Bowls -- Orange Bowl on Dec. 30, Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2, Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31.
Note: After the Rose Bowl and any other New Year’s Six Bowl, the pecking order of the following bowls can be changed to accommodate geographical and matchup preferences. The following is the traditional Pac-12 bowl pecking order, which is likely to stay more or less intact.
2. Alamo Bowl: Dec. 29, 6 p.m. Pacific time, San Antonio, Texas, ESPN – Pac-12 vs. Big 12.
3. Las Vegas Bowl: Dec. 17, 4:30 p.m. Pacific time, Las Vegas, ABC – Pac-12 vs. SEC
4. Holiday Bowl: Dec. 28, 5 p.m. Pacific time, San Diego, FOX/FS1 – Pac-12 vs. ACC
5. Sun Bowl: Dec. 30, 11 a.m. Pacific time, El Paso, Texas, CBS – Pac-12 vs. Notre Dame/ACC
6. LA Bowl: Dec. 17, 12:30 p.m. Pacific time, Inglewood, Calif., ABC – Pac-12 vs. Mountain West.
First Responder Bowl -- The Pac-12 might occupy a spot in this Dec. 27 bowl in University Park, Texas, against a team from the ACC, American Athletic or Big 12.
Gasparilla Bowl -- The Pac-12 might fill an opening in this Dec. 23 bowl in Tampa, Fla., against a team from the Big 12, ACC or SEC.
Armed Forces Bowl -- The Pac-12 could get a berth in this Dec. 22 bowl in Fort Worth Texas.
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Cover photo of TCU head coach Sonny Dykes by Ron Chenoy, USA TODAY Sports
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