Jimmy, why so negative? It's like you are having a bad day. With so many good HS players in Hawaii who'll get to see the Bears up front & personal, along with the benefits JKS playing in Hawaii, this is a win imho.
Given how the P12 ties that we're still obligated to contractually sorted out, I understand that we were not looking great in terms Holiday/Sun/Vegas, etc. I'm not necessarily so much negative on it as much as concerned, because: 1) For Cal right now, wins totally matter, and this is a true road game against a team that waxed a couple of teams that waxed us; and, 2) the payout is pretty meager. You beat the Rainbows, well - you're supposed to. You lose to them, it's a P4 team losing to a G5, which is not a good look.
I readily admit that if this helps you retain JKS, then it's absolutely a total win, 100%. We won't know that until mid-January, and the outcome is still very much in doubt apparently. But if you lose JKS, Rolo and Anae regardless of this bowl, that Hawaii pipeline becomes less of a thing any ways.
Plus, I hate ESPN and their pro-SEC bias, and this totally helps them out when the answer to every question in the world should be F-ESPN and the SEC.
Love the matchup and the connection with JKS and the recruits. And who doesn't love a trip to Hawaii! Unfortunately, not the greatest exposure and low payout but I'm hoping with all the positive changes happening that next year is the year we finally start to play in bigger bowls later in the season. Cal needs to take this game seriously and go for the W against a good team playing at home.
Because the teams are still contractually obligated to Pac 12 bowls, we were so far down the pecking order it was always going to be some lower tier game that should not even be a bowl anymore. UO, USC, UW, Utah, ASU, U of A were all ahead, and with UO off to the CFP, that pegged us for at best 6th. ESPN owns these bowls so they can move pieces around and given the JKS link, it was a no-brainer.
Yes……RR knows exactly what to say: early on. Seems like the last 2 bowl games were treated too much as throw aways (altho Mendoza jumping ship made things more difficult).
Sure, they made things more difficult, but Wilcox nonetheless used the 2H of a winnable bowl game on national tv as nothing more than a scrimmage. It was a frustrating end to a frustrating season.
Don't mean to sound all Al Davis-y, because JW certainly displayed plenty of strong ideals in his 9 years in Berkeley...but at a time when winning is literally the most important thing in terms of survival for the Cal football program, a Head Coach that had trouble winning and had no idea how to instill a winning culture, put winning on the back burner to try and get 4th string players game action. It was tough to stomach.
Yes. It was as if Wilcox was trying out new players in bowl games……a total joke. The narrative all year is get 6 wins to qualify for a bowl, then the bowl game is treated (as you said) as a scrimmage.
Meh. After Wilcox’s treatment of the LA Bowl, tough to get all that excited about lower tier bowls when there’s already more than a dozen too many. Plus, bowls are not meant to be true road games, and the payout is blah. An L to frigging Hawaii in basically a 10k seat HS stadium before the ESPN nation on Xmas Eve would be such a bad look.
HOWEVER, keeping JKS in the blue and gold for 2026 is ALL that matters right now, so if the Sheraton bowl helps to facilitate that, it’s a total win IMO, regardless of outcome.
Gotta keep JKS. Tosh will recruit good players, but if Cal is going to shift the narrative they can’t keep losing their best players to better programs.
Rose Bowl aside, this is the ideal bowl for us right now. Rolovich's role for next year should be clear before then. If he'll be with the team, there's some potential recruiting to do.
Really nice of ESPN to set this up. Cal was too far down the pecking list to go to any of the old Pac-12 tie-in games and with JKS and Rolo back in Hawaii against a fun Hawaii team, that small stadium should sell out and the ratings should be excellent for Christmas Eve.
Should help also with Cal recruiting in Hawaii - need to keep that pipeline flowing
The other bowls with heritage PAC 12 tie ins will pick the teams with better records. Additionally, logistics for crossing an ocean needs more time for planning.
Seems like the perfect way to end the season. Will deepen Cal’s Hawaiian/Polynesian connections. I remember the 1996 Aloha Bowl during Steve Mariucci’s lone year at the helm of Cal Football. Other than the final result, that was a great game.
Promoting the Defensive Coordinator that allowed Navy to rack up 642 yards of total offense to Head Coach is prima facie California Golden Bears Football.
“I owe it to those players – I really do – to finish what I started." Will Stein.
Fine words, Mr. Stein. When I started seeing the name Lupoi as Cal's next head coach without hearing any comments from him related to this matter, I guessed he would be staying with Oregon through their playoff run, as he should. Not everyone gets the chance to do so.
I believe only Lane Kiffin did not get the chance to do so, and it's perfectly reasonable for Ole Miss to kick his a$$ out of the state after what he did.
Man, if I didn’t have a giant vacation to Hawaii planned for February I definitely would be going.
You can go as many times as you want!
Go Bears!!!!
Jimmy, why so negative? It's like you are having a bad day. With so many good HS players in Hawaii who'll get to see the Bears up front & personal, along with the benefits JKS playing in Hawaii, this is a win imho.
That's fair.
Given how the P12 ties that we're still obligated to contractually sorted out, I understand that we were not looking great in terms Holiday/Sun/Vegas, etc. I'm not necessarily so much negative on it as much as concerned, because: 1) For Cal right now, wins totally matter, and this is a true road game against a team that waxed a couple of teams that waxed us; and, 2) the payout is pretty meager. You beat the Rainbows, well - you're supposed to. You lose to them, it's a P4 team losing to a G5, which is not a good look.
I readily admit that if this helps you retain JKS, then it's absolutely a total win, 100%. We won't know that until mid-January, and the outcome is still very much in doubt apparently. But if you lose JKS, Rolo and Anae regardless of this bowl, that Hawaii pipeline becomes less of a thing any ways.
Plus, I hate ESPN and their pro-SEC bias, and this totally helps them out when the answer to every question in the world should be F-ESPN and the SEC.
Love the matchup and the connection with JKS and the recruits. And who doesn't love a trip to Hawaii! Unfortunately, not the greatest exposure and low payout but I'm hoping with all the positive changes happening that next year is the year we finally start to play in bigger bowls later in the season. Cal needs to take this game seriously and go for the W against a good team playing at home.
I saw this rumored like 4 weeks ago. Did the last 3 games have no impact on the bowl selection?
No.
Because the teams are still contractually obligated to Pac 12 bowls, we were so far down the pecking order it was always going to be some lower tier game that should not even be a bowl anymore. UO, USC, UW, Utah, ASU, U of A were all ahead, and with UO off to the CFP, that pegged us for at best 6th. ESPN owns these bowls so they can move pieces around and given the JKS link, it was a no-brainer.
Hopefully JKS suits up.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR2nbITksgQ/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
We are going there to win the game.
Hawaii is BEAR TERRITORY!!!
Yes……RR knows exactly what to say: early on. Seems like the last 2 bowl games were treated too much as throw aways (altho Mendoza jumping ship made things more difficult).
Sure, they made things more difficult, but Wilcox nonetheless used the 2H of a winnable bowl game on national tv as nothing more than a scrimmage. It was a frustrating end to a frustrating season.
Don't mean to sound all Al Davis-y, because JW certainly displayed plenty of strong ideals in his 9 years in Berkeley...but at a time when winning is literally the most important thing in terms of survival for the Cal football program, a Head Coach that had trouble winning and had no idea how to instill a winning culture, put winning on the back burner to try and get 4th string players game action. It was tough to stomach.
Yes. It was as if Wilcox was trying out new players in bowl games……a total joke. The narrative all year is get 6 wins to qualify for a bowl, then the bowl game is treated (as you said) as a scrimmage.
And the young players who got tested and had good results transferred right after. See Josiah Martin.
Bingo.
Meh. After Wilcox’s treatment of the LA Bowl, tough to get all that excited about lower tier bowls when there’s already more than a dozen too many. Plus, bowls are not meant to be true road games, and the payout is blah. An L to frigging Hawaii in basically a 10k seat HS stadium before the ESPN nation on Xmas Eve would be such a bad look.
HOWEVER, keeping JKS in the blue and gold for 2026 is ALL that matters right now, so if the Sheraton bowl helps to facilitate that, it’s a total win IMO, regardless of outcome.
Gotta keep JKS. Tosh will recruit good players, but if Cal is going to shift the narrative they can’t keep losing their best players to better programs.
Hey cmon now, capacity is up to a staggering 15,194!
Rose Bowl aside, this is the ideal bowl for us right now. Rolovich's role for next year should be clear before then. If he'll be with the team, there's some potential recruiting to do.
If he’s not, then it’s a real bad sign for JKS retention.
Really nice of ESPN to set this up. Cal was too far down the pecking list to go to any of the old Pac-12 tie-in games and with JKS and Rolo back in Hawaii against a fun Hawaii team, that small stadium should sell out and the ratings should be excellent for Christmas Eve.
Should help also with Cal recruiting in Hawaii - need to keep that pipeline flowing
Soooo...should I book my flights now or wait until Sunday? 🤣
https://x.com/calfootball/status/1996641567327875523?s=46
They don't have bowl selection day anymore?
The other bowls with heritage PAC 12 tie ins will pick the teams with better records. Additionally, logistics for crossing an ocean needs more time for planning.
Reminds me of when Ed Oliver played with a sea urchin needle in his foot
https://sports.yahoo.com/houston-dt-ed-oliver-stepped-sea-urchin-rushed-td-anyway-022907580.html
Seems like the perfect way to end the season. Will deepen Cal’s Hawaiian/Polynesian connections. I remember the 1996 Aloha Bowl during Steve Mariucci’s lone year at the helm of Cal Football. Other than the final result, that was a great game.
Promoting the Defensive Coordinator that allowed Navy to rack up 642 yards of total offense to Head Coach is prima facie California Golden Bears Football.
Thanks for that reminder lol. Been trying for 24 years to forget about the Holmoecaust.
Oof. That was unbelievable. Some of the roughest years to be a Cal fan.
I do believe this is a new era and those days are behind us. It’s a sleeping giant of a fan and donor base, as we saw with the GameDay excitement.
Land Tosh + keep JKS and we’re literally ready to take off.
Key to victory: stay out of field goal range
This is a great way to end the season and good for recruiting.
I guess Rolovich wil coach, since Lupoi is staying with Oregon for the playoff run.
https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2025/12/will-stein-tosh-lupoi-staying-for-oregons-playoff-run.html
“I owe it to those players – I really do – to finish what I started." Will Stein.
Fine words, Mr. Stein. When I started seeing the name Lupoi as Cal's next head coach without hearing any comments from him related to this matter, I guessed he would be staying with Oregon through their playoff run, as he should. Not everyone gets the chance to do so.
I believe only Lane Kiffin did not get the chance to do so, and it's perfectly reasonable for Ole Miss to kick his a$$ out of the state after what he did.
Note that DLs Stanley Saole-McKenzie and LeBron Williams, and DB Aiden Manutai, are also from Hawaii.