Cal, CFP Bowl Projections: Miami Lone ACC Team in All CFP Predictions

All nine experts cited project Cal to be in a bowl game, but they disagree on which one

Cal running back Kadarius Calloway / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

We take a look at what nine college football experts projected this week as far as the 12 College Football Playoff qualifiers and Cal’s bowl destination.

All nine project Cal to be in a bowl game, although they disagree on which bowl that will be. Four predict Cal will head to the LA Bowl, but three project the Golden Bears will end up in the Holiday Bowl.  The Bears are 3-0 heading into Saturday’s ACC opener at Florida State, so obviously there is a long way to go.

Because teams that were in the Pac-12 last year are still sent to Pac-12-affiliated bowls this year it is possible for the Golden Bears to play an ACC team in a bowl game this year. Two sites project that Cal will face Clemson in the Holiday Bowl, and one predicts the Bears will face North Carolina in the Sun Bowl.

As far as the College Football Playoff berths, most of the sites predict that only one ACC team – Miami – will make the 12-team national playoff, and all but one expert predicts the Hurricanes will be one of the four teams that will receive a first-round bye.

Two sites predict that a second ACC school – Clemson – will get a CFP berth.

The experts are split between Memphis and Northern Illinois as to which Group of Five Conference team will get a CFP berth.

Here are the nine experts’ projections for Cal’s postseason destination and for the 12 teams that will make the CFP

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

Cal bowl

Holiday Bowl – Cal vs. Clemson

College Football Playoff

First-round byes

No. 1 – Texas

No. 2 – Ohio State

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 – Utah

First round

No. 5 – Georgia

No. 6 – Alabama

No. 7 – Tennessee

No. 8 – USC

No. 9 – Mississippi

No. 10 – Oregon

No. 11 – Kansas State

No. 12 -- Memphis

.

ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

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 – Kansas State

First round

No. 5 – Georgia

No. 6 – Alabama

No. 7 – Tennessee

No. 8 – Penn State

No. 9 – Mississippi

No. 10 – USC

No. 11 – Oregon

No. 12 – Memphis

.

CBS Sports (Jerry Palm)

Cal bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. UNLV

College Football Playoff

First-round byes

No. 1 – Georgia

No. 2 – Ohio State

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 – Utah

First round

No. 5 – Texas

No. 6 – Alabama

No. 7 – Oregon

No. 8 – Iowa State

No. 9 – Penn State

No. 10 – Kansas State

No. 11 – Oklahoma State

No. 12 – Memphis

.

USA Today (Erick Smith)

Cal bowl

First Responder Bowl – Cal vs. BYU

College Football Playoff

First-round byes

Kansas State

Georgia

Ohio State

Miami

First round

Memphis

Texas

Utah

Penn State

Clemson

Alabama

Oregon

Tennessee

.

Action Network (Brett McMurphy)

Cal bowl

Holiday Bowl – Cal vs. Clemson

College Football Playoff

First-round byes

No. 1 – Georgia

No. 2 – Ohio State

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 – Utah

First round

No. 5 – Texas

No. 6 – Alabama

No. 7 – Mississippi

No. 8 – Tennessee

No. 9 – Oregon

No. 10 – Penn State

No. 11 – USC

No. 12 – Northern Illinois

.

Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan)

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 – Utah

First round

No. 5 – Georgia

No. 6 -- Mississippi

No. 7 – Alabama

No. 8 -- Oregon

No. 9 – Tennessee

No. 10 – Penn State

No. 11 – Missouri

No. 12 – Memphis

.

College Football News

Cal bowl

LA Bowl – Cal vs. Boise State

College Football Playoff

First-round byes

No. 1 – Ohio State

No. 2 -- Georgia

No. 3 -- Clemson

No. 4 – Kansas State

First round

No. 5 -- Alabama

No. 6 -- Texas

No. 7 – Notre Dame

No. 8 – Mississippi

No. 9 -- USC

No. 10 – Penn State

No. 11 -- Miami

No. 12 – Memphis

.

247 Sports (Brad Crawford)

Cal bowl

Sun Bowl – Cal vs. North Carolina

College Football Playoff

First-round byes

No. 1 – Ohio State

No. 2 – Texas

No. 3 – Miami

No. 4 – Kansas State

First round

No. 5 – Georgia

No. 6 – Mississippi

No. 7 – Oregon

No. 8 – Tennessee

No. 9 – Alabama

No. 10 – Penn State

No. 11 – USC

No. 12 – Northern Illinois

.

San Jose Mercury-News (Jon Wilner)

(Only teams for Pac-12 bowls)

Cal bowl

Holiday Bowl – Cal

College Football Playoff

USC

Utah

Oregon

.

Pecking order of Pac-12-affliated bowls, which apply 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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