Cal Announces Game Times, TV for Four 2022 Football Games, Including Notre Dame
Cal announced game times and television coverage for four of the 12 games on Cal's 2022 football schedule, including the road game against Notre Dame and a Friday afternoon home game against UCLA.
How many of those games will Cal win? The BetOnline betting website places Cal's over/under for number of wins in 2022 at 5 1/2. Below we look at the over/under for number of wins for every Pac-12 team, and which teams Cal might beat.
For now we look at the times and TV for the four games Cal announced, including the Saturday, September 17 game at Notre Dame. That game is the featured nonconference game on Cal's schedule and it will start at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, which will be 11:30 a.m. on the West Coast. The game will be televised by NBC.
That will be the third game for new Irish coach Marcus Freeman, and will come two weeks after Notre Dame plays Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio. Freeman was Notre Dame's defensive coordinator last season and has never been a head coach before.
Cal has not faced Notre Dame since 1967, when the Bears lost to the No. 1-ranked Irish 41-8 in South Bend, Indiana, in Notre Dame's season opener.
Notre Dame finished the 2021 season ranked No. 8, and coach Brian Kelly left to take the head coaching job at LSU. The Irish are expected to be ranked in the top 10 in the preseason 2022 polls.
The Cal opener is a home game against UC Davis on Saturday, September 3, and game time for that contest has been set for 1 p.m. and the game will be televised by Pac-12 Bay Area.
The second game, on Saturday, September 10, is also at Cal and is against UNLV. It will start at 1 p.m. and will be televised by Pac-12 Bay Area.
The Notre Dame game is the third weekend.
The fourth game time to be announced is the Friday, November 25 home game against UCLA. That is the day after Thanksgiving, and game time is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., with FOX to televise that game.
Cal will be favored to win the first two games, but is likely to be an underdog in the other two.
Kickoff times and television selections for Cal's other eight regular-season games are expected to be announced either six or 12 days in advance. The schedule features additional Pac-12 home contests against Arizona (Sept. 24), Washington (Oct. 22), Oregon (Oct. 29) and Stanford (Nov. 19) for the 125th Big Game. Cal will play conference road games at Washington State (Oct. 1), Colorado (Oct. 15), USC (Nov. 5) and Oregon State (Nov. 12).
Let's take a look at how BetOnline has set the betting line for the over/under number of games each Pac-12 team will win. (We placed them in order of highest expected win total to lowest):
2022 Regular Season Wins – USC Trojans
Over/Under 9½
Note: They opened at 9 in 2021.
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2022 Regular Season Wins - Utah Utes
Over/Under 8½
Note: They opened at 8½ in 2021.
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2022 Regular Season Wins - Oregon Ducks
Over/Under 8½
Note: They opened at 9 in 2021.
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2022 Regular Season Wins - UCLA Bruins
Over/Under 8½
Note: They opened at 7 in 2021.
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2022 Regular Season Wins - Washington Huskies
Over/Under 7½
Note: They opened at 9 in 2021.
.
2022 Regular Season Wins - California Golden Bears
Over/Under 5½
Note: They opened at 5½ in 2021.
.
2022 Regular Season Wins - Arizona State Sun Devils
Over/Under 5½
Note: They opened at 9 in 2021.
.
2022 Regular Season Wins - Oregon State Beavers
Over/Under 5½
Note: They opened at 4½ in 2021.
.
2022 Regular Season Wins - Washington State Cougars
Over/Under 5½
Note: They opened at 6 in 2021.
.
2022 Regular Season Wins - Stanford Cardinal
Over/Under 4½
Note: They opened at 3½ in 2021.
.
2022 Regular Season Wins - Colorado Buffaloes
Over/Under 3½
Note: They opened at 4½ in 2021.
.
2022 Regular Season Wins - Arizona Wildcats
Over/Under 2½
Note: They opened at 2½ in 2021.
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So which five games does the betting site expect Cal to win?
We start with the first two nonconference games against UC Davis, an FCS school, and UNLV, which went 2-10 last season. Cal should win both of those.
That's two wins.
Cal will be expected to lose at Notre Dame, but beat Arizona the following week at home after handing the Wildcats their only victory of the season in 2021.
That's three wins.
The Golden Bears will probably be the underdog in the road game against Washington State, but should win the road game against Colorado the following week.
That's four wins.
Cal hosts Washington the next week, and the Bears have had success against the Huskies in recent years, losing in overtime in Seattle a year ago. The betting line no doubt chalks this up to a Cal loss, but it is a game could win.
The Golden Bears will be expected to lose the next three games -- home against Oregon and on the road against USC and Oregon State.
Cal's fifth and final win, according to the prognosticators, would be the November 19 home game against Stanford before a loss to UCLA the day after Thanksgiving.
The games against Washington and Oregon State look like the best bets to get a sixth win, although victories against Arizona, which should improved with quarterback Jayden de Laura on the team, and Stanford, which may have the best pro-prospect quarterback in Tanner McKee, are no certainty.
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Cover photo of Marcus Freeman is by the South Bend Tribune, USA TODAY Sports
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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
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