Many of the top experts in college football expect Cal to play in the Independence Bowl against Texas Tech when it returns to the postseason for the first time in four years.
As for San Jose State, the picture is less clear for its second straight bowl appearance after the Spartans were left out of the Mountain West title game based on computer rankings.
The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy projects the Spartans to head west to the Hawaii Bowl and face Rice. Fox Sports and 247Sports both had them in the same Dec. 23 bowl, though Bryan Fischer of Fox projected SJSU to face Memphis.
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm, on the other hand, projected them to join Cal in the South, for a Birmingham Bowl date against Georgia State.
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Mark Schlabaugh projected a Boca Raton Bowl berth against Marshall, while Kyle Bonagura had them facing Ohio in a return to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, where they lost last year to Eastern Michigan.
The projections vary because the Mountain West does not have a set order for bowls based on its final standings. The conference title game will be played Saturday between Boise State and host UNLV, which San Jose State beat last weekend on the road to finish tied in the standings. The conference used computer rankings to determine its bowl game participants, and SJSU finished behind the Broncos and Rebels.
The Pac-12 does not have a specific order for bowls, either. The winner of the title game Friday night between Oregon and Washington is likely headed to the College Football Playoff, and the Rose Bowl will be a semifinal for that event.
McMurphy, Palm and Schlabaugh all projected Cal to play the Red Raiders in the Independence Bowl, while Bonagura has the Bears facing Central Florida in that Shreveport, Louisiana game. 247Sports’ Brad Crawford has them going to the First Responder Bowl against Louisiana-Lafayette while Fischer projected a Sun Bowl berth against Georgia Tech.
Cal’s last bowl game was a December 2019 win over Illinois in the now-defunct Redbox Bowl played at Levi’s Stadium.
Bowl games will be officially announced Sunday after all the conference championship games have been played.
Here are the Pac-12’s six bowl games:
LA Bowl vs. Mountain West
Independence Bowl vs. Big 12
Holiday Bowl vs. ACC
Las Vegas Bowl vs. SEC
Sun Bowl vs. ACC
Alamo Bowl vs. Big 12
(The conference can also slot a team into one of three ESPN-owned and operated bowls the Armed Forces Bowl, First Responder Bowl and Garsprilla Bowl in the event of overflow.)
Here are the Mountain West’s five bowl games:
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl vs. MAC
LA Bowl vs. Pac-12
New Mexico Bowl vs. Conference USA
Arizona Bowl vs. MAC
Hawaii Bowl vs. American Athletic
(The Mountain West can also place a team in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl if needed, as well as the Cure, Frisco, Boca Raton and First Responder bowls.)
