Cal Football: Bowl Projections -- Experts Think Bears Will Be in a Bowl

Ten of 11 sites we cited predict Cal will play a postseason game

Maybe the rest of the country has more faith in Cal than we do in the Bay Area. Around here we seem to think the Bears’ chances of landing a bowl berth for the second straight season are slipping away, but the folks that project bowl matchups have a different view.

Ten of the 11 reputable sites that we cited project Cal (5-5) to be in a bowl. Only the CBS Sports site leaves the Bears at home in the postseason.

Three of the experts expect Cal to play in the nearby Redbox Bowl in Santa Clara, albeit against three different Big Ten opponents -- Indiana, Illinois and Iowa.

Three sites have Cal landing in the Las Vegas Bowl, with Boise State being the opponent according to two of them.

Last week the Sun Bowl was deemed the most likely destination for the Bears, and two experts still have Cal ending up in El Paso.

To get to any bowl, Cal still needs to win one of its two final games, against Stanford on Saturday or against UCLA in Pasadena on Nov. 30. Six wins would probably get the Bears into a bowl, although winning both games would guarantee Cal a bowl berth.

Here are the bowl projections of the 11 experts:

ESPN (Kyle Bunagura): Cal vs. Illinois, Redbox Bowl (Santa Clara), Dec. 30

ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Cal vs. Indiana, Redbox Bowl (Santa Clara), Dec. 30

Yahoo.com: Cal vs. Iowa, Redbox Bowl (Santa Clara), Dec. 30

USA Today: Cal vs. Boise State, Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 21

College Football News: Cal vs. Hawaii, Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 21

Brett McMurphy: Cal vs. Boise State, Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 21

Bleacher Report: Cal vs. Louisville, Sun Bowl, Dec. 31

247 Sports: Cal vs. Miami, Sun Bowl, Dec. 31

Sporting News: Cal vs. Iowa, Holiday Bowl, Dec. 27

Sports Illustrated: Cal vs. Ohio, Heart of Dallas Bowl, Dec. 26

CBS Sports: Cal not projected to be in a bowl