Pac-12 Bowl Projections from Five Sites

It may seem premature to be projecting bowl berths, but that did not prevent five sites from predicting pairings for all the bowls in the 2021 college football season.

Those sites are Athlon, The Sporting News, College Football News, 247Sports and Pro Football Network, all of whom made their bowl picks within the past few weeks.

Although ESPN’s Football Power Index predicts the Golden Bears will finish the regular season with a losing record, four of the five sites predicted Cal will play in a bowl game this season. An asterisk needs to be applied to that total, though, because two of the sites project Cal to play in the Redbox Bowl. The problem with that prediction is that there may not be a Redbox Bowl this season, because that San Francisco Bay Area bowl does not yet have a venue or a date.

All of the sites have at least seven Pac-12 teams ending up in bowl games, and two have eight. None of the sites projects a Pac-12 team to be in the College Football Playoff, but every Pac-12 school except Arizona, Washington State and Oregon State is projected by at least one of the five sites to get a bowl berth.

It’s possible that Arizona State, which is under NCAA investigation, may be ineligible for the postseason, although a ruling is not imminent.

One final note: The LA Bowl is now called the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl.

Here are the Pac-12 teams projected to play in bowl games by each of the five sites we used:

Athlon

Cal vs. Northwester, Redbox Bowl, Date TBD

Oregon vs. Wisconsin, Rose Bowl, Jan. 1

USC vs. Indiana, Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 30

Arizona State vs. Oklahoma State, Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29

Washington vs. Florida State, Holiday Bowl, Dec. 28

UCLA vs. Boise State, LA Bowl, Dec. 18

Utah vs. Virginia Tech, Sun Bowl, Dec. 31

College Football News

Cal vs. Kansas State, First Responders Bowl, Dec. 28

Oregon vs. Wisconsin, Rose Bowl, Jan. 1

USC vs. North Carolina, Holiday Bowl, Dec. 28

Arizona State vs. Virginia Tech, Sun Bowl, Dec. 31

Washington vs. Iowa, Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 30

UCLA vs. Boise State, LA Bowl, Dec. 18

Utah vs. Oklahoma State, Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29

Stanford vs Purdue, Redbox Bowl, TBD

Pro Football Network

Oregon vs. Ohio State, Rose Bowl, Jan. 1

USC vs. Indiana, Peach Bowl, Dec. 30

Arizona State vs. Texas, Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29

Washington vs. Iowa, Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 30

UCLA vs. Virginia, Sun Bowl, Dec. 31

Stanford vs. Fresno State, LA Bowl, Dec. 18

Utah vs. North Carolina State, Holiday Bowl, Dec. 28

The Sporting News

Cal vs. Iowa, Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 30

USC vs. Wisconsin, Rose Bowl, Jan. 1

Oregon vs. Oklahoma State, Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29

Arizona State vs. Miami, Holiday Bowl, Dec. 28

Washington vs. Minnesota, Redbox Bowl, TBD

UCLA vs. Boise State, LA Bowl, Dec. 18

Utah vs. Boston College, Sun Bowl, Dec. 31

247Sports

Cal vs. Northwestern, Redbox Bowl, TBD

Oregon vs. Wisconsin, Rose Bowl, Jan. 1

USC vs. Cincinnati, Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 1

Arizona State vs. Texas, Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29

Washington vs. North Carolina State, Holiday Bowl, Dec. 28

UCLA vs. Indiana, Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 30

Colorado vs. Boise State, LA Bowl, Dec. 18

Utah vs. Wake Forest, Sun Bowl, Dec. 31

Pecking order of bowls with Pac-12 tie-ins:

College Football Playoff semifinals (if a Pac-12 team finishes among the top four teams in the final College Football Playoff rankings):

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 s. Big Ten

4. Holiday Bowl: Date to be determined, time to be determined, San Diego (venue to be determined), FOX/FS1 – Pac-12 vs. ACC

5. Tony the Tiger 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.

*7. Redbox Bowl (if it is played): Date to be determined, time to be determined, San Francisco Bay Area (venue to be determined), TV to be determined – Pac-12 vs. Big Ten. It's unclear where the Redbox Bowl would fall in the pecking order if it is played.

A Pac-12 team could also play in one of these three bowls, which offer possible berths to multiple conferences:

Armed Forces Bowl, Dec. 22, Fort Worth, Texas -- Pac-12 or Big 12 or C-USA or Army

First Responder Bowl, Dec. 28, Dallas, Texas -- Pac-12 or ACC or American or Big 12

Gasparilla Bowl, Dec. 23, Tampa, Fla. -- Pac-12 or Big 12 or ACC or SEC

Cover photo by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport or going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport