Cal, CFP Bowl Projections: Golden Bears in Postseason Limbo

Two ACC teams -- Clemson and Miami -- are predicted to be in the 12-team College Football Playoff

Jaivian Thomas (25) was Cal's leading rusher against Pitt / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

College football bowl experts aren’t quite sure whether Cal will get a bowl berth or not.  Seven of the 10 sites we cited predict that Cal will land in a bowl game, most likely the LA Bowl, but the other three project that the Bears will not get to a bowl game

Cal is 3-3 and riding a three-game losing streak heading into Saturday's home game against North Carolina State, a game the Golden Bears are favored to win.

(Remember, teams that were members of the Pac-12 in 2023 will go to Pac-12-affiliated bowls this year.)

Regarding the College Football Playoff, eight of the nine experts who project a College Football Playoff field predict that two ACC teams will get a berth in the 12-team playoff.  All nine predict that Clemson will land in the CFP, with two (College Football News and USA Today) predicting the Tigers will be one of the top four seeds and earn a first-round bye into the quarterfinals. 

Eight of the nine sites predict that Miami will be one of the 12 teams in the College Football play, and six of them project that the Hurricanes will be one of the top four seeds.  College Football News projects that Miami won’t make it to the CFP.

It should be noted that some of the sites project how the College Football Playoff would look if the selections were made today, while others are predicting what the field will be when the regular season is over.

Here are the bowl projections from seven reputable sites:

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

Cal Bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Texas

No. 2 – Oregon

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 – Boise State

First Round

No. 5 – Ohio State

No. 6 – Penn State

No. 7 – Georgia

No. 8 – Alabama

No. 9 – BYU

No. 10 – Iowa State

No. 11 – Clemson

No. 12 – Notre Dame

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ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

Cal Bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Texas

No. 2 – Oregon

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 -- BYU

First Round

No. 5 – Ohio State

No. 6 – Georgia

No. 7 – Penn State

No. 8 – Clemson

No. 9 – Alabama

No. 10 – Iowa State

No. 11 – Notre Dame

No. 12 – Boise State

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CBS Sports (Jerry Palm)

Cal Bowl

No Cal bowl (Arizona in LA Bowl, Oregon State in Independence Bowl)

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Texas

No. 2 – Ohio State

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 – Iowa State

First Round

No. 5 – Oregon

No. 6 – Alabama

No. 7 – Georgia

No. 8 – Penn State

No. 9 – BYU

No. 10 – Clemson

No. 11 – Texas A&M

No. 12 – Boise State

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Action Network (Brett McMurphy)

Cal Bowl

No Cal bowl (Utah in LA Bowl, Washington State in Independence Bowl)

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Texas

No. 2 – Oregon

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 – Iowa State

First Round

No. 5 – Ohio State

No. 6 – Georgia

No. 7 – Penn State

No. 8 – Clemson

No. 9 – LSU

No. 10 – Texas A&M

No. 11 – BYU

No. 12 -- Army

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Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan)

Cal Bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Texas

No. 2 – Oregon

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 – Kansas State

First Round

No. 5 – Ohio State

No. 6 – Georgia

No. 7 – Penn State

No. 8 – Alabama

No. 9 – Clemson

No. 10 – LSU

No. 11 – Notre Dame

No. 12 – Boise State

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College Football News

Cal Bowl

Independence Bowl – Cal vs. Arizona

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Ohio State

No. 2 – Georgia

No. 3 – Clemson

No. 4 -- BYU

First Round

No. 5 – Oregon

No. 6 – Penn State

No. 7 – Notre Dame

No. 8 – Texas A&M

No. 9 – Texas

No. 10 – Tennessee

No. 11 – Alabama

No. 12 – Boise State

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247 Sports (Brad Crawford)

Cal Bowl

Sun Bowl – Cal vs. Arizona

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Texas

No. 2 – Ohio State

No. 3 – Clemson

No. 4 -- BYU

First Round

No. 5 – Oregon

No. 6 – Miami

No. 7 – Georgia

No. 8 – Penn State

No. 9 – Texas A&M

No. 10 – Notre Dame

No. 11 – Alabama

No. 12 – Notre Dame

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USA TODAY (Erick Smith)

Cal Bowl

No Cal bowl (Colorado in LA Bowl, Arizona Stae in Independence Bowl)

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

Texas

Ohio State

Clemson

Iowa State

First Round

Georgia

Oregon

Penn State

LSU

Miami

Kansas State

Notre Dame

Boise State

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Bleacher Report (David Kenyon)

Cal Bowl

Gaparilla Bowl -- Cal vs. Kentucky

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 -- Texas

No. 2 -- Oregon

No. 3 -- Miami

No. 4 -- Iowa State

First Round

No. 5 -- Ohio State

No. 6 -- Georgia

No. 7 -- Clemson

No. 8 -- Penn State

No. 9 -- Alabama

No. 10 -- Notre Dame

No. 11 -- Boise State

No. 12 -- LSU

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San Jose Mercury News (Jon Wilner)

(2023 Pac-12 representatives only)

Cal Bowl

LA Bowl -- Cal.

Comment: The schedule eases after a brutal start that featured three cross-country trips and a home date with Miami. There are plenty of wins availableif the Bears (3-3) can consistently score more than 20 points.

College Football Playoff

Oregon

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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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