Cal Fans Should Brace For Plenty of Activity Before the Bowl Game

Roster changes before the bowl season are inevitable with the transfer portal opening a week from Monday

Teddye Buchanan says he'll definitely play in the bowl game. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Cal football’s regular season ended with a thud on Saturday.

The Bears, without quarterback Fernando Mendoza (illness) and a handful of other key players, were no match for No. 9 SMU, losing 38-6 at Ford Stadium.

Next up is a bowl game, the second straight season the Bears have qualified for the postseason by virtue of a 6-6 record.

It will be more than another week before Cal learns its bowl destination and opponent, although there has been speculation the Bears could land in the Dec. 18 LA Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

In the meanwhile, there are a lot of moving parts that will that could impact what the Bears look like in the short term and long range.

The FBS early-signing period for high school recruits runs this Wednesday through Friday. The Bears commitments so far from 14 prospects, including four-star quarterback Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele, who has narrowed his field of schools to Cal and top-ranked Oregon. 

More impactful for the here and now is the FBS transfer portal, which opens Dec. 9 and remains available for players through Dec. 28.

Elite players in recent years also sometimes opt out of playing in a bowl game if they believe they’d be better served by beginning to prepare for the NFL draft.

Cal coach Justin Wilcox said Saturday none of his players have notified him of their intention to depart before a bowl game for any of those options.

“I think every individual’s situation is a little bit different. There’s guys that kind of run the gamut,” Wilcox said. “I know we’ll have conversions with specific individuals, certainly regarding the bowl game and their future.”

The transfer portal has provided players with the freedom to change programs far more easily than in the past. Wilcox knows it’s a factor the Bears will have to address.

“They’re just getting it from every angle, families and agents and all these things. They hear it from everywhere,” he said. “There’s a lot of freedom to move and there’s a lot of money involved in this era of college football. 

“It’s not super-structured yet. So I do have empathy because they’re young guys trying to find their way and sometimes there’s a lot of noise for them.”

The X-factor for the Bears is junior running back Jaydn Ott, who rushed for more than 1,300 yards a year ago but has totaled just 301 yards this season after battling a persistent ankle injury through much of fall.

Ott said months ago this would be his last college season, that he would enter the 2025 NFL draft. He still may be thinking that way, although his draft stock certainly has taken a hit, even if through no fault of his own.

He also could return for one more season at Cal, where he appears happy and is popular with his teammates and coaches. But the frustration of this season might also prompt him to consider the transfer portal and a different college landscape for next season.

No one really knows because Ott hasn’t spoken with reporters who cover the team since August.

Linebacker Teddye Buchanan, a transfer from UC Davis, said he’s not going anywhere.

“For me, I plan on playing in the bowl game,” said Buchanan, who has 112 tackles through 12 games. “I love this team. It’s been a great experience for me so far, so I’m looking to finish that out, whenever that bowl game might be.”

In the meantime, Wilcox and his staff will meet with players who have decisions to make.

“We want to make sure we can keep this as level as possible for them, very straight forward, and have open and honest conversations with all the guys on our team,” he said.

Stay tuned.