Trivia Thursday: Cal Bowl History

Can you name the opponents AND bowl names of the 24 bowl appearances in Cal history? PLUS results and grading from last week's quiz.

THIS WEEK IN TRIVIA

Cal has played in some great, memorable bowl games. Prestigious contests in the general vicinity of Southern California. Cal has played in some great, awful bowl games. Wacky acid trips full of interceptions and mayhem. Cal has played in some forgettable bowl games. Randomly named corporate sponsors against uninteresting small schools.

Can you name every Cal bowl opponent, and the name of every Cal bowl game a the time the game was played? Today’s the day to find out! Click the link, take the quiz, and report back with your results. Be advised: This quiz is really more designed for desktop browsing, so use your phone at your own risk.

LAST WEEK IN TRIVIA

Can you name the Cal career leaders in passing, running and receiving yards?

IF YOU WANT TO TAKE LAST WEEK’S QUIZ WITHOUT SPOILERS, CLICK THE LINK ABOVE AND DO NOT CONTINUE SCROLLING

The answer? Yes, if those players played since 2002 or later. Half of quiz takers nailed the highlights of the Tedford years and got obvious Bear great Jared Goff, but as soon as the names went further back in history, correct answer rates plummeted:

Honestly, I’m a little bummed that 9.2% of our audience missed Marshawn, but I guess that means we need to spend even more time referencing him in every article. Honestly, might be tough roping him into basketball posts, but by God we’ll find a way.

Meanwhile, poor one out for poor Na’il Benjamin. After four years as a high level contributor in the mid-90s, Benjamin left Cal ranked third all time in career receiving yards. But he played concurrently with Shaw and Douglas (who passed him up later in the 90s), was further eclipsed as football became more pass happy, and ended up being the least-guessed answer in the quiz. I expected the nod to go to 50s running back Johnny Olszewski, thanks to both how long ago his time at Cal was and his hard-to-spell name. But having ‘John O’ and ‘Johnny O’ as acceptable answers may have swung the decision.

If you got 14 or more correct, congratulations - you’re smarter than the average bear. If you scored 22 or higher, shame on you for ruining the curve for everybody else who was cool and went partying the night before the quiz.