Cal Football: Golden Bears could have mixed results again in 2018

2018 California Schedule and Predictions

Cal gets the benefit of a pair of Mountain West opponents to open the year. Things open with a trip to Laramie to face Wyoming the year after Josh Allen’s graduation to the NFL. Following the road trip, the Golden Bears return to Berkeley for a Bay Area showdown against San Jose State. The non-conference schedule rounds out with a challenge from FCS Eastern Washington.

Then again, non-conference play was never California’s issue last season. The Golden Bears went 3-0 outside Pac-12 play and 2-7 in the league. Three of their conference losses came by a field goal or less, though, including a double-overtime stumble against Arizona.

Justin Wilcox’s squad wasn’t far removed from the postseason after a 5-7 finish. Incremental improvements would presume progress toward bowl eligibility. But progress in college football doesn’t exist in a vacuum. As the Golden Bears improve, the rest of their division fluctuates as well.

Whether or not Cal can make a bowl game in 2018 depends entirely on their schedule. As long as they don’t drop any non-conference games, the Golden Bears will need to win at least three of their nine Pac-12 contests.

What’s next for California?

This year, Cal drew the short straw by getting five conference road games and four home games. Contests away at USC and Stanford are probably going to end up as losses. The other three road games on the schedule — at Oregon State, at Washington State, and at Colorado — are all winnable contests.

If they go 2-3 on the road, all California will need to do after that is go 1-3 at home. Utah is the team likeliest to lose to Cal out of the quartet of visitors to Berkeley. The Utes are 2-2 against the Golden Bears since joining the Pac-12 in 2011. Oregon is on an 8-1 run against Cal. Arizona is 4-0 in their sporadic meetings since 2010. And Washington is 10-2 since Cal last put together a winning streak against the Huskies.

Prediction: 7-5 (4-5 Pac-12)

Cal fans are in for a pleasant surprise this season. The division is once again out of reach, but the Golden Bears will reach a bowl game after missing out on the postseason each of the past two years. California is going to take down all of their non-conference opponents. They will knock off Oregon State and Colorado on the road. Utah will offer up another victory.

Next: Post-spring Top 25 projections

And the Golden Bears will also pull off an upset over one of their other Pac-12 North rivals, most likely Washington State on the road. All in all, seven wins will be steady improvement for California in Justin Wilcox’s second season guiding the program.