Cal, CFP Bowl Projections: All Experts Believe Cal Is Bowl-Bound

All 11 sites predict that only one ACC team will get into the College Football Playoff, and most say it will be Miami

Cal wide receiver Nyziah Hunter / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Cal seems bound for a bowl. At least that’s the opinion of all nine of the experts we cited that project every bowl game.

They are not unanimous regarding which bowl will invite Cal, though. Three of the nine predict the Golden Bears will wind up in the LA Bowl, two believe Cal will be in the Sun Bowl, two others say Cal will be in the Independence Bowl, one has Cal in the Military Bowl, and one puts the Bears in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Cal is 5-4 heading into Saturday’s home game against Syracuse, so the Bears need one win in their final three games to become bowl-eligible.

Remember, teams that were members of the Pac-12 in 2023 will go to Pac-12-affiliated bowls this season. The pecking order of Pac-12-affiliated bowls is listed at the end of this article.

Projections for the 12-team College Football Playoff are intriguing. All 11 of the sites we cited that project a CFP field have just one ACC team in the College Football Playoff.

Nine of the 11 sites predict that Miami will be the ACC team in CFP even though the Hurricanes are not in first place in the conference. One expert – Brad Crawford of 247 Sports – projects that SMU, which is alone in first place in the ACC, will be the conference’s only representative in the 12-team national championship tournament. One other site -- College Football News -- predicts that Clemson will be he ACC's only team in the CFP.

Ten of the 11 experts predict that the ACC champion will get a top-four seed and a first-round bye, but College Football News predicts that Clemson will be the ACC representative and will not get a bye.

Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of these CFP projections is that two of the 11 experts – Brett McMurphy of the Action Network and Stewart Mandel of The Athletic -- predict that Colorado will get into the College Football Playoff with a first-round bye.

Here are the seven sites that project pairings for every bowl, plus two others that predict only the College Football Playoff berths:

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

Cal Bowl

Sun Bowl – Cal vs. Louisville

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No 1. – Oregon

No. 2 – Texas

No. 3 – BYU

No. 4 -- Miami

First Round

No. 5 – Ohio State

No. 6 – Penn State

No. 7 – Tennessee

No. 8 – Indiana

No. 9 – Notre Dame

No. 10 – Alabama

No. 11 – Mississippi

No. 12 – Boise State

.

ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

Cal Bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Oregon

No. 2 – Texas

No. 3 – BYU

No. 4 -- Miami

First Round

No. 5 – Penn State

No. 6 – Indiana

No. 7 – Penn State

No. 8 – Tennessee

No. 9 – Alabama

No. 10 – Mississippi

No. 11 – Georgia

No. 12 – Boise State

.

CBS Sports (Jerry Palm)

Cal Bowl

Sun Bowl – Cal vs. Duke

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Ohio Sate

No. 2 – BYU

No. 3 – Alabama

No. 4 -- Miami

First Round

No. 5 – Oregon

No. 6 – Georgia

No. 7 – Texas

No. 8 – Penn State

No. 9 – Notre Dame

No. 10 – Tennessee

No. 11 – Indiana

No. 12 – Boise State

.

Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan)

Cal Bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Oregon

No. 2 – Texas

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 -- BYU

First Round

No. 5 – Ohio State

No. 6 – Penn State

No. 7 – Tennessee

No. 8 – Alabama

No. 9 – Notre Dame

No. 10 – Indiana

No. 11 – Mississippi

No. 12 – Boise State

.

Action Network (Brett McMurphy)

Cal Bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Oregon

No. 2 – Texas

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 -- Colorado

First Round

No. 5 – Ohio State

No. 6 – Mississippi

No. 7 – Notre Dame

No. 8 – Penn State

No. 9 – Tennessee

No. 10 – Indiana

No. 11 – Georgia

No. 12 – Boise State

.

The Sporting News (Bill Bender)

Cal Bowl

Military Bowl – Cal vs. Navy

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Oregon

No. 2 – Texas

No. 3 – BYU

No. 4 -- Miami

First Round

No. 5 – Ohio State

No. 6 – Penn State

No. 7 – Tennessee

No. 8 – Indiana

No. 9 – Notre Dame

No. 10 – Alabama

No. 11 – Mississippi

No. 12 – Boise State

.

247 Sports (Brad Crawford)

Cal Bowl

Armed Forces Bowl – Cal vs. Cincinnati

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Oregon

No. 2 – Texas

No. 3 – BYU

No. 4 -- SMU

First Round

No. 5 – Ohio State

No. 6 – Tennessee

No. 7 – Notre Dame

No. 8 – Penn State

No. 9 – Indiana

No. 10 – Alabama

No. 11 – Boise State

No. 12 -- Mississippi

.

USA Today (Erick Smith)

Cal Bowl

Independence Bowl – Cal vs. Texas-San Antonio

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

Oregon

Texas

Miami

BYU

First Round

Ohio State

Alabama

Mississippi

Georgia

Penn State

Notre Dame

Indiana

Boise State

.

College Football News

Cal Bowl

Independence Bowl -- Cal vs. Memphis

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Ohio State

No. 2 – Alabama

No. 3 – Kansas State

No. 4 – Boise State

First Round

No. 5 – Oregon

No. 6 – Penn State

No. 7 – Notre Dame

No. 8 – Indiana

No. 9 – Texas A&M

No. 10 – Mississippi

No. 11 – Georgia

No. 12 – Clemson

.

The Athletic (Stewart Mandel)

(CFP predictions only)

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Ohio State

No. 2 – Alabama

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 -- Colorado

First Round

No. 5 – Oregon

No. 6 – Penn State

No. 7 – Georgia

No. 8 – Texas

No. 9 – Notre Dame

No. 10 – Indiana

No. 11 – Mississippi

No. 12 – Boise State

.

The Athletic (Austin Mock)

(CFP predictions only, based on a metrics model and algorithms)

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Oregon

No. 2 – Texas

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 -- BYU

First Round

No. 5 – Ohio State

No. 6 – Penn State

No. 7 – Notre Dame

No. 8 – Indiana

No. 9 – Alabama

No. 10 – Mississippi

No. 11 – Georgia

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

Follow Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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