Cal, CFP Bowl Projections: Cal Sliding Out of the Postseason Picture
When Cal was 3-0 every reputable college expert who posted bowl projections had the Bears in a postseason game. A few left Cal out of their bowl predictions when the Bears slipped to 3-3. But now, after the 24-23 loss to North Carolina State left Cal's record at 3-4, the Bears are on the outside looking in.
Five of the six experts we cited projected that Cal would not get a bowl berth. The only one who still expects Cal to be in a postseason game is ESPN's Kyle Bonagura, who projected the Bears to land in the LA Bowl against UNLV. Cal might get back into the postseason picture if it beats Oregon State in Berkeley on Saturday, and the Bears are 10-point favorites in that game as of Monday.
(Remember, teams that were in the Pac-12 in 2023 will go to Pac-12-affliated bowls this year. The pecking order of Pac-12-affiliated bowls is listed at the end of this report.)
We cited nine reputable sites that projected a College Football Playoff field, and Miami and Clemson remain the ACC's prospective representives in that 12-team tournament. All nine experts had both Miami and Clemson in the field, with seven of them projecting Miami to be one of the four teams receiving a first-round bye, and two predicting that Clemson will get that first-round bye.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this week's projections is the addition of Indiana to the CFP party. Five of the nine experts who projected a College Football Playoff field put the Hoosiers in their 12-team field for the first time.
Here are the projections of six experts who predicted all the bowl matchups, plus three more experts who projected only a College Football Playoff field
ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)
Cal Bowl
LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV
College Football Playoff
First-Round Byes
No. 1 – Oregon
No. 2 – Georgia
No. 3 – Miami
No. 4 – Boise State
First Round
No. 5 – Penn State
No. 6 – Ohio State
No. 7 – Texas
No. 8 – Indiana
No. 9 – Clemson
No. 10 – BYU
No. 11 – Iowa State
No. 12 – Notre Dame
.
ESPN (Mark Schlabach)
Cal Bowl
No Cal bowl (Washington in LA Bowl, Arizona in Independence Bowl)
College Football Playoff
First-Round Byes
No. 1 – Oregon
No. 2 – Georgia
No. 3 – Miami
No. 4 -- BYU
First Round
No. 5 – Ohio State
No. 6 – Penn State
No. 7 – Texas
No. 8 – Tennessee
No. 9 – Clemson
No. 10 – Indiana
No. 11 – Iowa State
No. 12 – Boise State
.
CBS Sports (Jerry Palm)
Cal Bowl
No Cal bowl ( USC in LA Bowl, Oregon State in Independence Bowl)
College Football Playoff
First-Round Byes
No. 1 – Georgia
No. 2 – Ohio State
No. 3 – Miami
No. 4 – Iowa State
First Round
No. 5 – Oregon
No. 6 – Texas
No. 7 – Penn State
No. 8 – Alabama
No. 9 – BYU
No. 10 – Clemson
No. 11 – Texas A&M
No. 12 – Boise State
.
Action Network (Brett McMurphy)
Cal Bowl
No Cal bowl (Arizona State in LA Bowl, Utah vs. Oregon State in Independence Bowl)
College Football Playoff
First-Round Byes
No. 1 – Oregon
No. 2 – Georgia
No. 3 – Miami
No. 4 – Iowa State
First Round
No. 5 – Ohio State
No. 6 – Penn State
No. 7 – Texas
No. 8 – Clemson
No. 9 – LSU
No. 10 – Texas A&M
No. 11 – BYU
No. 12 -- Army
.
Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan)
Cal Bowl
No Cal bowl (Washington in LA Bowl, TCU vs. Tulane in Independence Bowl)
College Football Playoff
First-Round Byes
No. 1 – Oregon
No. 2 – Georgia
No. 3 – Miami
No. 4 – Kansas State
First Round
No. 5 – Texas
No. 6 – Ohio State
No. 7 – Penn State
No. 8 – Tennessee
No. 9 – Clemson
No. 10 – LSU
No. 11 – Notre Dame
No. 12 – Boise State
.
247 Sports (Brad Crawford)
Cal Bowl
No Cal bowl (Utah in LA Bowl, Arizona in Independence Bowl)
College Football Playoff
First-Round Byes
No. 1 – Oregon
No. 2 – Georgia
No. 3 – Clemson
No. 4 -- BYU
First Round
No. 5 – Texas
No. 6 – Ohio State
No. 7 – Miami
No. 8 – Penn State
No. 9 – Notre Dame
No. 10 – Indiana
No. 11 – Texas A&M
No. 12 – Boise State
.
San Jose Merucry Bews (Jon Wilner, CFP projections only)
College Football Playoff
First-Round Byes
No. 1 -- Georgia
No. 2 -- Oregon
No. 3 -- Clemson
No. 4 -- BYU
First Round
No. 5 -- Ohio State
No. 6 -- Texas
No. 7 -- Penn State
No. 8 -- Tennessee
No. 9 -- Notre Dame
No. 10 -- Miami
No. 11 -- Indiana
No. 12 -- Boise State
.
The Athletic (Stewart Mandel, CFP projections only)
College Football Playoff
First-Round Byes
No. 1 – Georgia
No. 2 – Ohio State
No. 3 – Miami
No. 4 – Iowa State
First Round
No. 5 – Oregon
No. 6 – Penn State
No. 7 – Texas
No. 8 – Tennessee
No. 9 – Clemson
No. 10 – LSU
No. 11 – BYU
No. 12 – Boise State
.
The Athletic (Austin Mock, based on metrics and algorithms, CFP projections only)
College Football Playoff
First-Round Byes
No. 1 – Oregon
No. 2 – Miami
No. 3 – Georgia
No. 4 – Iowa State
First Round
No. 5 – Ohio State
No. 6 – Penn State
No. 7 – Texas
No. 8 – Notre Dame
No. 9 – Clemson
No. 10 – Indiana
No. 11 – Tennessee
No. 12 – Boise State
.
2024 pecking order of Pac-12-affliated bowls, which applies to teams that were in the Pac-12 in 2023
College Football Playoff
Alamo Bowl (December 28, San Antonio)
Holiday Bowl (December 27, San Diego)
Las Vegas Bowl (December 27, Allegiant Stadium)
Sun Bowl (December 31, El Paso, Texas)
LA Bowl (December 18, SoFi Stadium)
Independence Bowl (December 28, Shreveport, Louisiana)
ESPN bowl pool
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Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.
ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)Cal BowlCollege Football PlayoffESPN (Mark Schlabach)Cal BowlCollege Football PlayoffCBS Sports (Jerry Palm)Cal BowlCollege Football PlayoffAction Network (Brett McMurphy)Cal BowlCollege Football PlayoffAthlon Sports (Steven Lassan)Cal BowlCollege Football Playoff247 Sports (Brad Crawford)Cal BowlCollege Football PlayoffSan Jose Merucry Bews (Jon Wilner, CFP projections only)College Football PlayoffThe Athletic (Stewart Mandel, CFP projections only)College Football PlayoffThe Athletic (Austin Mock, based on metrics and algorithms, CFP projections only)College Football Playoff2024 pecking order of Pac-12-affliated bowls, which applies to teams that were in the Pac-12 in 2023