The California Golden Bears know that they're bowl eligible, and they know that they'll be receiving their bowl pairing on Sunday night, when the BCS bowl game pairings will be announced on ESPN beginning at 6 p.m. PST.
Cal isn't yet sure exactly which game they'll be attending, but the options look like they're coming down to either the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl or the Hyundai Sun Bowl.
The Pac-12 bowl partners will make their selections in the following order on Sunday:
- Valero Alamo Bowl (vs. Big 12, December 29 in San Antonio)
- Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl (vs. Big 12, December 28 in San Diego)
- Hyundai Sun Bowl (vs. ACC, December 31 in El Paso)
- MAAACO Las Vegas Bowl (vs. Mountain West, December 22 in Las Vegas)
- Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (vs. at-large team, December 31 in San Francisco)
- Gildan New Mexico Bowl (vs. Mountain West, December 17 in Albuquerque)
The Oregon Ducks are Rose Bowl bound, and the Stanford Cardinal looks like a sure bet to receive an at-large selection, likely to the Fiesta Bowl. That leaves three Pac-12 teams with identical 7-5 records: the Washington Huskies, the Utah Utes and the Golden Bears. Washington separates itself from the pack due to its regular season wins over Utah and Cal. So Washington will likely get selected to the Alamo Bowl, leaving Cal and Utah to duke it out for the Holiday and Sun Bowls. If Cal ends up at the Holiday Bowl they'll likely face Baylor, and if they go to the Sun Bowl, their projected opponent would be Georgia Tech.
To keep up to date with all news and information regarding Cal, please visit California Golden Blogs. Click here for the full 2011 College Football Bowl Schedule.