Cal, CFP Bowl Projections: Golden Bears No Longer a Unanimous Bowl Team

Three schools share the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff predictions by the experts we sited

Cal running back Jaivian Thomas ( / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

For the first time this season, the college football experts we cite were not unanimous in the belief that Cal will wind up with a bowl berth.

Eight of the 10 experts we cited did have the Golden Bears in a bowl game, with a berth in the LA Bowl being the destination most of them predicted. 

However, USA Today (Erick Smith) and Action Network (Brett McMurphy) left Cal out their bowl projections. Through the first four weeks, Cal was projected to be in a bowl by every reputable bowl-projection site.

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

Cal is 3-1 heading into Saturday night's home game against No. 8 Miami. The Golden Bears had a bye last week but nevertheless fell out of the bowl picture on two sites in the meantime.

As far as the projection of which 12 teams will be in the College Football Playoff, three schools – Texas, Alabama and Ohio State – were predicted to be the No. 1 seed by at least one of our experts.

Of the eight experts who numbered the top 12 seeds, three put Texas at No. 1, three had Alabama at No. 1 and two placed Ohio State at No. 1. Not a single school was placed among the four schools with first-round byes by all nine sites that made that projection. Miami, of the ACC, and Ohio State, of the Big Ten, were each placed among the top four in eight of nine sites.

One other ACC school, Clemson, was projected to make the 12-team CFP in eight of the nine sites, and the Tigers were predicted to be one of the four teams with first-round byes by one site, College Football News.

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

Cal bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. Boise State

College Football Playoff

First-round byes

No. 1 – Texas

No. 2 – Ohio State

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 – BYU

First round

No. 5 – Alabama

No. 6 – Tennessee

No. 7 – Oregon

No. 8 – Georgia

No. 9 – Penn State

No. 10 – Michigan

No. 11 – Clemson

No. 12 – James Madison

.

ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

Cal bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. Boise State

College Football Playoff

First-round byes

No. 1 – Alabama

No. 2 – Ohio State

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 – Kansas State

First round

No. 5 – Texas

No. 6 – Georgia

No. 7 – Tennessee

No. 8 – Oregon

No. 9 – Penn State

No. 10 – Clemson

No. 11 – Missouri

No. 12 -- UNLV

.

CBS Sports (Jerry Palm)

Cal bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

College Football Playoff

First-round byes

No. 1 – Texas

No. 2 – Ohio State

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 – Utah

First round

No. 5 – Alabama

No. 6 – Oregon

No. 7 – Georgia

No. 8 – Iowa State

No. 9 – Penn State

No. 10 – Michigan

No. 11 – Clemson

No. 12 – Boise State

.

USA Today (Erick Smith)

Cal bowl

No bowl for Cal (Arizona in the LA Bowl, and Washington State in the Independence Bowl)

College Football Playoff

First-round byes

Kansas State

Alabama

Ohio State

Miami

First round

Texas

Oregon

Georgia

Penn State

Tennessee

Clemson

Iowa State

UNLV

.

Action Network (Brett McMurphy)

Cal bowl

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

College Football Playoff

First-round byes

No. 1 – Alabama

No. 2 – Ohio State

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 – Iowa State

First round

No. 5 – Georgia

No. 6 – Texas

No. 7 – Tennessee

No. 8 – Penn State

No. 9 – Oregon

No. 10 – Clemson

No. 11 – USC

No. 12 -- UNLV

.

Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan)

Cal bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

College Football Playoff

First-round byes

No. 1 – Alabama

No. 2 – Ohio State

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 – Kansas State

First round

No. 5 – Texas

No. 6 – Tennessee

No. 7 – Georgia

No. 8 – Oregon

No. 9 – Penn State

No. 10 – Missouri

No. 11 – Michigan

No. 12 – Boise State

.

College Football News

Cal bowl

Independence Bowl – Cal vs. UCF

College Football Playoff

First-Round Byes

No. 1 – Ohio State

No. 2 – Georgia

No. 3 – Clemson

No. 4 -- Utah

First round

No. 5 – Alabama

No. 6 – Notre Dame

No. 7 – Texas

No. 8 – Michigan

No. 9 – Tennessee

No. 10 – USC

No. 11 – Penn State

No. 12 – Boise State

.

247 Sports (Brad Crawford)

Cal bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. Boise State

College Football Playoff

First-round byes

No. 1 – Ohio State

No. 2 – Alabama

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 -- BYU

First round

No. 5 – Texas

No. 6 – Tennessee

No. 7 – Oregon

No. 8 – Georgia

No. 9 – Penn State

No. 10 – Clemson

No. 11 – Iowa State

No. 12 – James Madison

.

Bleacher Report (David Kenyon)

Cal bowl

Gasparilla Bowl – Cal vs. Maryland

College Football Playoff

First-round byes

No. 1 – Texas

No. 2 – Oregon

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 – Iowa State

First round

No. 5 – Alabama

No. 6 – Ohio State

No. 7 – Georgia

No. 8 – Tennessee

No. 9 – Clemson

No. 10 – Penn State

No. 11 – Mississippi

No. 12 – Boise State

.

San Jose Mercury-News (Jon Wilner)

(2023 representatives only)

Cal bowl

LA Bowl – Cal. With this comment: If the Bears (3-1) beat Miami this week, we will entertain the possibility of a berth in the Alamo, Holiday or Las Vegas bowls. At that point, the Hotline will immediately begin preparations for the apocalypse.

College Football Playoff

Utah

Oregon

.

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