Pac-12 Bowl Projections: All Nine Experts Have Cal in a Bowl

Cal is in the ACC, but its postseason hopes rest with a bowl affiliated with the Pac-12, We also note ACC teams predicted to make the 12-team playoff

Cal linebacker Cade Uluave (0) celebrates / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

The expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams and the massive conference restructuring this season have complicated bowl projections for the 2024 seasons. Nonetheless, nine experts have provided their projections after the first full weekend of games, and we relay those predictions to you.

Projections are little more than guesswork at this early stage of the season, but all nine of the sites we cite have Cal playing in a bowl game.

A couple of things to remember:

---Although Cal and Stanford are now members of the ACC, they are not eligible for ACC-affiliated bowls. Instead Cal and Stanford as well as the other eight schools that left the Pac-12 after last season are still vying for berths in Pac-12-affiliated bowls. For the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the bowls that have been affiliated with the Pac-12 in the past will still invite a team that were Pac-12 members in 2023. As a result it is possible for Cal to face an ACC opponent in a bowl game this season.

---With the 12 CFP slots as well as the 70 slots available in the 35 other bowls, there are 82 postseason slots available. But there are only 134 FBS schools, suggesting that teams with less than .500 records may be getting bowl bids.

For each of the nine experts we list, we included the ACC teams and the 2023 Pac-12 teams that are projected to reach the 12-team national playoffs. Then we noted the projections each site made regarding Pac-12-affiliated bowls, since those are the bowls Cal can play in.

You will note that most of the experts project that only one ACC team -- Miami -- will be part of the 12-team College Football playoff, while most predict that two 2023 Pac-12 teams -- Utah and Oregon -- will be among the 12 teams.

The experts seem to have three possible bowl destinations for Cal. Five predict Cal will end up in the LA Bowl, two have the Bears in the Sun Bowl, and two put Cal in the Independence Bowl. Cal is 1-0 and plays at Auburn on Saturday.

Here are the projections of the nine experts.

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

12-team College Football Playoffs -- ACC Teams -- Miami

12-team College Football Playoffs -- Pac-12 Teams (2023 conference members) – Arizona, Oregon, Utah

Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Oklahoma State

Holiday Bowl – Washington vs. Clemson

Las Vegas Bowl – Washington State vs. Missouri

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Florida State

LA Bowl – Colorado vs. UNLV

Independence Bowl – Cal vs. Baylor

.

ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

12-team College Football Playoffs -- ACC Teams -- Miami

12-team College Football Playoffs -- Pac-12 Teams (2023 conference members) – Oregon, Utah

Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Kansas State

Holiday Bowl – Arizona vs. Georgia Tech

Las Vegas Bowl – Washington vs. Auburn

Sun Bowl – Washington State vs. SMU

LA Bowl – Cal vs. Boise State

Independence Bowl – Oregon State vs. Baylor

.

USA Today (Erick Smith)

12-team College Football Playoffs -- ACC Teams – Clemson, Miami

12-team College Football Playoffs -- Pac-12 Teams (2023 conference members) – Oregon, Utah

Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Kansas State

Holiday Bowl – Arizona vs. Georgia Tech

Las Vegas Bowl – Washington State vs. Kentucky

Sun Bowl – Washington vs. SMU

LA Bowl – Oregon State vs. Boise State

Independence Bowl – Cal vs. Army

.

CBS Sports (Jerry Palm)

12-team College Football Playoffs -- ACC Teams -- Miami

12-team College Football Playoffs -- Pac-12 Teams (2023 conference members) – Oregon, Utah

Alamo Bowl – Alamo vs. Kansas

Holiday Bowl – Washington vs. Boston College

Las Vegas Bowl – Arizona vs. Kentucky

Sun Bowl – Washington State vs. Virginia Tech

LA Bowl – Cal vs. Fresno State

Independence Bowl – Oregon State vs. West Virginia

.

Action Network (Brett McMurphy)

12-team College Football Playoffs -- ACC Teams -- Miami

12-team College Football Playoffs -- Pac-12 Teams (2023 conference members) – Oregon, Utah, USC

Alamo Bowl – Washington vs. Kansas State

Holiday Bowl – Washington State vs. SMU

Las Vegas Bowl – Arizona vs. Tennessee

Sun Bowl – Cal vs. North Carolina

LA Bowl – Oregon State vs. UNLV

Independence Bowl – West Virginia vs. Minnesota

.

College Football News

12-team College Football Playoffs -- ACC Teams – Clemson, Miami

12-team College Football Playoffs -- Pac-12 Teams (2023 conference members) – USC, Utah

Alamo Bowl – Washington vs. Oklahoma State

Holiday Bowl – Oregon vs. Florida State

Las Vegas Bowl – Arizona vs. Missouri

Sun Bowl – Arizona State vs. Florida State

LA Bowl – Cal vs. Boise State

Independence Bowl – Oregon State vs. TCU

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – Washington State vs. UNLV

.

Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan)

12-team College Football Playoffs -- ACC Teams -- Miami

12-team College Football Playoffs -- Pac-12 Teams (2023 conference members) – Oregon, Utah

Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Kansas State

Holiday Bowl – Washington vs. Virginia Tech

Las Vegas Bowl – Arizona vs. Texas A&M

Sun Bowl – Colorado vs. North Carolina State

LA Bowl – Cal vs. Boise State

Independence Bowl – Oregon State vs. Army

.

247 Sports (Brad Crawford)

12-team College Football Playoffs -- ACC Teams -- Miami

12-team College Football Playoffs -- Pac-12 Teams (2023 conference members) – Oregon, Utah

Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Kansas State

Holiday Bowl – Washington vs. Clemson

Las Vegas Bowl – Arizona vs. Kentucky

Sun Bowl – Cal vs. North Carolina

LA Bowl – Oregon State vs. UNLV

Independence Bowl – Washington State vs. TCU

.

East Bay Times (Jon Wilner)

(2023 Pac-12 representatives only)

12-team College Football Playoffs -- Pac-12 Teams (2023 conference members) – Utah, Oregon

Alamo Bowl -- USC

Holiday Bowl -- Arizona

Las Vegas Bowl -- Washington

Sun Bowl -- Colorado

LA Bowl -- Cal

Independence Bowl – Washington State

Follow Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport