Stanford, Cal go from Big Game to bowl games

Sun Bowl brings back Cardinal; Cal headed to Phoenix

When the dust settled Sunday, the college bowl picture showed Stanford going to Texas yet again and Cal spending Christmas in Arizona.

Cal, making its first postseason appearance in four years, will play Dec. 26 in the Cheez-it Bowl against Texas Christian (6-6). The game will be played in Phoenix at the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Stanford will be playing in Texas for the third year in a row, returning to El Paso for the Sun Bowl it won in 2016. Last season, Stanford was in San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl. At least the matchup is novel: Stanford hasn’t played Pitt since 1932.

Pitt has a 7-6 record, but went 6-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, all six wins coming against teams in the bowl lineup. The Panthers were routed 42-10 by Clemson on Saturday in the ACC title game. They’ve also been routed by Central Florida (45-14) and Penn State (51-6). Pitt’s most impressive showing against top-flight competition might have been a 19-14 loss at Notre Dame.

Stanford (8-4) is playing a bowl game for the 10th year in a row, a school record.

Kickoff is 11 a.m. and the game will be televised by CBS.

Cal (7-5) is playing in a bowl game for the first time since 2015 when it beat Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl.

The Bears will be facing a TCU team that looked dead in the water two weeks ago. The Horned Frogs were 4-6, but beat Baylor and Oklahoma State — both bowl teams — allowing only 33 points in the two games. They were 3-4 against bowl teams, beating Iowa State but losing to Oklahoma (52-27), Ohio State (4028), Texs (31-16) and West Virginia (47-10).

It will be the first meeting between Cal and TCU. Kickoff is 6 p.m. and the game will be televised by ESPN. REDBOX BOWL >> The annual bowl game at Levi’s Stadium (this year Dec. 31 at noon) is a showdown between Pac-12 and Big Ten teams looking to end on a strong note after disappointing regularseason fades.

Oregon (8-4, Pac-12), led by QB Justin Herbert, was 5-1 after an overtime win over eventual conference champion Washington and could have been 6-0 had it not been for a fluky loss to Stanford. But the Ducks staggered from there, losing three of four to fall out of the conference race.

Michigan State (7-5, Big Ten) beat Penn State on Oct. 13, then finished 3-3, including a disappointing loss to Nebraska.