Cal's 2023 Football Schedule Rated One of the Toughest in Pac-12
Cal's task of getting a bowl berth for the first time since 2019 in made more difficult by the fact that it faces one of the toughest schedules in the Pac-12. That's according to CBS Sports and College Football News and the San Jose Mercury-News, and one of them has determined that the Bears have the third most difficult schedule in the country.
Rating schedules before the season starts is always a risky business. What looks like an easy opponent in preseason may turn out to be challenging adversary by the time the season is over. And vice versa.
However, CBS Sports' David Cobb, College Football News and Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury-News took on the chore of ranking the 2023 schedules of Pac-12 football teams. Two of them concluded the Bears have the third most difficult schedule in the conference and the other claimed Cal faces the second hardest slate of opponents. All three rank UCLA's schedule as the easiest in the Bruins' final season in the Pac-12.
One site, College Football News, ranked Cal's schedule as the third toughest in the country, behind only Purdue and Colorado.
Only Colorado and Arizona State have more difficult schedules, according to CBS Sports, and the Mercury News rates only the slates of the Buffaloes and Utah as being tougher than Cal's. College Football News goes one further, saying only Colorado has a tougher Pac-12 schedule than the Bears in 2023, and only Colorado and Purdue have more difficult schedules than Cal nationally.
Here's what CBS Sports said about Cal's schedule, with the game against Auburn being seen as pivotal:
A Week 2 home game with Auburn highlights the nonconference schedule. A win there would give the Bears breathing room in the program's quest to reach bowl eligibility for the first time since 2019. It could be a necessity because the conference slate is tough. The Bears play five road games in the Pac-12, including four brutal tests against Washington, Utah, Oregon and UCLA. With six total road games, the path to a bowl appearance is narrow in coach Justin Wilcox's seventh season.
Jon Wilner of the Mercury-News also placed the Bears' schedule at No. 3, with this comment:
Misses: Arizona and Colorado
Bye: Week Eight
Home games (six): Auburn, Idaho, Arizona State, Oregon State, Washington State, USC
Road games (six): North Texas, Washington, Utah, Oregon, UCLA, Stanford
Comment: Not exactly an ideal schedule for a program desperate to change its trajectory with a new offense and rookie quarterback. The Bears drew the wrong misses, are the only team that visits Salt Lake City, Eugene and Seattle and have a sneaky-tough opener at North Texas.
College Football News puts only Colorado ahead of Cal in its rankings of the toughest Pac-12 schedule, and says this about the Bears' 2023 opponents:
Score: 420 Cal has a tough schedule partly because it doesn't play ... Cal. It also doesn't get Colorado, meaning there's nothing easy in Pac-12 play. Going to North Texas doesn't help before hosting Auburn.
The Bears play all the presumed title contenders -- USC, Oregon, Utah and Washington -- and they don't face Colorado and Arizona, neither of whom is expected to challenge for the championship.
Here's how CBS Sports ranks the Pac-12 teams' 2023 strength of schedule, ranking from toughest to easiest:
1. Colorado
2. Arizona
3. Cal
4. Utah
5. Washington
6. Arizona
7. Stanford
8. USC
9. Oregon
10. Washington State
11. Oregon State
12. UCLA
.
Here's how College Football News ranks the schedules, toughest to easiest:
1. Colorado
2. Cal
3. Stanford
4. Washington
5. Arizona
6. Arizona State
7. Utah
8. Oregon State
9. Washington State
10. USC
11. Oregon
12. UCLA
.
Here is the Mercury-News' rankings, toughest to easiest
1. Colorado
2. Utah
3. Cal
4. Washington
5. USC
6. Arizona
7. Oregon
8. Arizona State
9. Stanford
10. Washington State
11. Oregon State
12. UCLA
Cover photo by Darren Yamashita, USA TODAY Sports
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