Sam Settleman
Sports editor
Prediction: UCLA 38, California 24

Earlier this week, I wrote that a 9-3 finish for UCLA would be a lost season.

What I didn’t write is that an 8-4 season would be an unmitigated disaster.

But make no mistake, that’s still true. If the Bruins find a way to turn an 8-1 start into an 8-4 finish with three straight losses to close out the regular season, rash reactions will follow – and they will be more than justified.

That being said, there’s a reason I never wrote those words. Cal, while not as bad as the likes of Colorado, is no bright spot in the conference of champions. UCLA losing this game on the heels of its fall over the last couple weeks seems unlikely.

Granted, the Golden Bears are 4-2 in Berkeley this season and have looked competitive as of late.

Cal most recently beat Stanford in the Big Game for the second straight year, marking the first time it has done so since 2009. Two weeks before that, the Golden Bears lost by just six to USC – now the No. 6 team in the country. And two weeks before that, Cal gave Washington a scare.

But this is also the same team that handed Colorado its only win of the season. The 1-10 Buffaloes are likely the worst Power Five team in the country, so any team that loses to them can’t be taken very seriously.

Under normal circumstances, UCLA could very well lose this game. But given what has transpired over the last two weeks, the Bruins will come out with a fire Friday in Berkeley and overpower the Golden Bears – avoiding national embarrassment in the process.

Jon Christon
Daily Bruin senior staff
Prediction: UCLA 42, California 13

Loyal readers – and listeners – of the Daily Bruin know that I am not a believer in Colorado’s football program, to say the least.

I have gone on record to say the 2022 edition of the Buffaloes is one of the worst – if not the worst – Power Five football programs of all time.

But Colorado fans can find some solace in the fact that this wasn’t a winless season – and they have California to thank for that.

On Oct. 15, the unthinkable happened. The Golden Bears went into Boulder and lost to the Buffaloes 20-13 in overtime. It marked Colorado’s first win of the campaign, and, barring a major upset Saturday, it will be its only victory in 2022.

Moreover, the 13 points Cal scored were by far the fewest by a Colorado opponent, with no other team failing to produce fewer than 38 points against the Buffaloes.

Using the imperfect transitive property, Cal is not good, plain and simple.

As such, UCLA will end its regular season in blowout fashion.

Surprising to some Bruin fans, this will start on the defensive end. UCLA’s defense is not good by any stretch of the imagination, but Cal’s offense is so incomprehensibly bad – as evidenced in its loss to Colorado – that it will be a struggle for the home team to reach 24 or more points, like my colleagues are all predicting.

UCLA’s offense, on the other hand, will score with ease. The Bruins have averaged north of 30 points per game against their University of California opponent under coach Chip Kelly, a mark that includes their 42-point performance a year ago.

While UCLA has looked far from untouchable in recent weeks, it should hardly break a sweat against Cal.

Gavin Carlson
Daily Bruin staff
Prediction: UCLA 42, California 24

I’ve never agreed with the idea that UCLA vs. Cal is any sort of rivalry.

I didn’t when I was a little boy growing up in a UCLA household located in the Bay Area. I didn’t during my first two years as a Bruin, despite arguing with Cal students about which public school is actually ranked No. 1.

Maybe it’s because UCLA has won seven of its last nine matchups against the school it stole its fight song and, more or less, its colors from. Not to mention those two losses came during the Bruins’ awful 2016 and 2019 seasons.

But yet, despite my first ever trip to California Memorial Stadium likely being among a crowd that fills less than half of its 63,000 seats, this Bruins vs. Golden Bears matchup finally feels important enough to anticipate.

UCLA’s already more talented, but I expect the Bruins to use some extra motivation to blow out its secondary rival.

For starters, UCLA is in the middle of a battle with the UC Board of Regents over its 2024 move to the Big Ten, largely because it would make Cal football and basketball even more nationally irrelevant. While it wouldn’t actually affect the outcome of the current legal battles, the Bruins need to prove they’re in a different class than their only UC system counterpart in the Pac-12. A loss gives the potential Big Ten move even worse optics.

Secondly, UCLA is two wins away from its first 10-win season since 2014. The Bruins made that feat a lot more challenging with two straight heartbreaking losses at home, but it’s still quite attainable.

And finally, Kelly has made his annual trip back to the hot seat in the eyes of many in Westwood because of those aforementioned back-to-back defeats. While I disagree with those calling for his job, losing to the 4-7 Golden Bears after being out-recruited by them for the past two years might be enough to change even my own opinion. He’ll have his team ready to go.

For those hypothetical reasons, UCLA should come out fierce and focused Friday.

For reasons related to Xs and Os, the Bruins are also simply better.

UCLA still boasts the most efficient run game in the country, and Cal’s average passing offense isn’t good enough to take advantage of the Bruins’ greatest weakness.

The 10-point spread isn’t enough in my opinion. UCLA should win by three scores.

Isabelle Friedman
Copy chief
Prediction: UCLA 42, California 28

According to Lucy van Pelt in Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving special, “One of the greatest traditions we have is the Thanksgiving day football game.”

For me, the Thanksgiving football game to watch growing up was obviously Texas vs. Texas A&M – until the Aggies left the Big 12, that is.

This Thanksgiving, I have a bit of a sense of deja vu going into what could be UCLA’s last game in Berkeley ahead of the Bruins’ likely departure from the Pac-12.

Although not as storied as the crosstown rivalry between UCLA and USC, the battle for No. 1 public university has divided the state of California in many ways. Families and loved ones have long debated which school rules the Golden State, and what better time for the argument than at the Thanksgiving table before the annual football matchup?

The UCLA vs. Cal rivalry is not my rivalry. But just as I mourned the end of the Lone Star Showdown, I feel for the families that will need something else to debate come Thanksgiving 2024. Who knows where conversations will head?

With that said, the Golden Bears have something to prove this season as the Bruins prepare to leave the Pac-12 and their UC sibling behind.

It’s unrealistic to think Cal will beat out a No. 18-ranked squad after its failure of a season thus far, but UCLA has lost two games in a row, including one to 4-7 Arizona. The Golden Bears are going to come out hot after their victory over Stanford in last week’s 125th edition of the Big Game, and the Bruins will give up too many points for their liking.

Ultimately, UCLA is going to prevail in this rivalry game, despite being unable to do so last week against USC – but I don’t think Cal will go down quietly.

UCLA and Cal’s rivalry on the gridiron may be coming to a close, but I know from experience that the competition will live on in the spirit of Californians for far longer.