Cal, CFP Bowl Projections: Experts Still Have Cal in LA Bowl

Some of the seven experts have two ACC teams in the College Football Playoff, and some have just one ACC team in

Cal safeties Craig Woodson and Miles Williams chase SMU wide receiver Roderick Daniels Jr. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Despite Cal's lopsided 38-6 loss to SMU on Saturday, the Golden Bears' bowl destination hasn't changed.

For the third week in a row, experts are nearly unanimous that Cal (6-6) is headed to the December 18 LA Bowl and would face UNLV of the Mountain West Conference in that game.

Six of the seven experts we cited Sunday predict that Cal and UNLV will be the opponents in the LA Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

The lone outlier is Bill Bender of The Sporting News, who projects that Cal will play in the Holiday Bowl against Baylor.

The predicted Cal-UNLV matchup in the LA Bowl assumes that Boise State (11-1, 7-0 Mountain West) will beat UNLV (10-2, 6-1 Mountain West) in the Mountain West title game this weekend. That would put the Broncos in the College Football Playoff and leave UNLV as the top available Mountain West team.

If UNLV should upset Boise State on the Broncos' home field, Cal’s LA Bowl opponent would probably be Boise State.

Remember, teams that were members of the Pac-12 in 2023 will be assigned to Pac-12-affiliated bowls this year.  The pecking order of Pac-12-affiliated bowls appears at the end of this story.

As far as the College Football Playoff projections, all seven sites predict that SMU of the ACC will be one of the top four seeds and get a first-round bye.  That assumes SMU will beat Clemson in Saturday’s ACC championship game.

Two of the seven experts project that a second ACC team, Miami (10-2), will make the 12-team field, albeit barely, while the other five sites do not include Miami in its projected CFP field, giving three-loss Alabama that final at-large spot instead.

The CFP rankings to be released Tuesday will provide a clearer picture of where teams stand, and the conference championship games this weekend will further define the 12-team field.  The bracket for the College Football Playoff will be announced Sunday.

Here are the seven sites’ projections for Cal’s bowl and the 12 teams predicted to  qualify for the College Football Playoff

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

Cal Bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Oregon

No. 2 – Texas

No. 3 – SMU

No. 4 – Boise State

First Round

No. 5 – Notre Dame

No. 6 – Ohio State

No. 7 – Penn State

No. 8 – Georgia

No. 9 – Indiana

No. 10 – Tennessee

No. 11 – Miami

No. 12 – Arizona State

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ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

Cal Bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Oregon

No. 2 – Georgia

No. 3 – SMU

No. 4 – Boise State

First Round

No. 5 – Notre Dame

No. 6 – Texas

No. 7 – Ohio State

No. 8 – Penn State

No. 9 – Tennessee

No. 10 – Indiana

No. 11 – Arizona State

No. 12 -- Alabama

.

CBS Sports (Jerry Palm)

Cal Bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Oregon

No. 2 – Georgia

No. 3 – SMU

No. 4 – Boise State

First Round

No. 5 – Texas

No. 6 – Penn State

No. 7 – Notre Dame

No. 8 – Ohio State

No. 9 – Tennessee

No. 10 – Arizona State

No. 11 – Indiana

No. 12 -- Miami

.

247 Sports (Brad Crawford)

Cal Bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Oregon

No. 2 – Texas

No. 3 – SMU

No. 4 – Boise State

First Round

No. 5 – Notre Dame

No. 6 – Penn State

No. 7 – Georgia

No. 8 – Ohio State

No. 9 – Tennessee

No. 10 – Indiana

No. 11 – Alabama

No. 12 – Arizona State

.

The Sporting News (Bill Bender)

Cal Bowl

Holiday Bowl – Cal vs. Baylor

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Oregon

No. 2 – Texas

No. 3 – SMU

No. 4 – Boise State

First Round

No. 5 – Penn State

No. 6 – Notre Dame

No. 7 – Georgia

No. 8 – Ohio State

No. 9 – Tennessee

No. 10 -- Indiana

No. 11 – Arizona State

No. 12 -- Alabama

.

College Football Network (Oliver Hodgkinson)

Cal Bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Oregon

No. 2 – Texas

No. 3 – SMU

No. 4 – Boise State

First Round

No. 5 – Penn State

No. 6 – Notre Dame

No. 7 – Georgia

No. 8 – Tennessee

No. 9 – Indiana

No. 10 – Ohio State

No. 11 – Alabama

No. 12 – Arizona 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 -- SMU

No. 4 -- Boise State

First Round

No. 5 -- Penn State

No. 6 -- Notre Dame

No. 7 -- Georgia

No. 8 -- Ohio State

No. 9 -- Tennessee

No. 10 -- Indiana

No. 11 -- Alabama

No. 12 -- Arizona 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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