On offense during the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl .
The California Golden Bears college football team competes as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), representing the University of California, Berkeley in the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12). Since the establishment of the team in 1886, California has appeared in 25 bowl games ,[ 1] including eight appearances in the Rose Bowl Game .[ 1] Their latest bowl appearance was the 2019 Redbox Bowl , where California won against the Illinois Fighting Illini 35–20,[ 2] to give the Golden Bears an overall bowl record of 12–12–1 (.521).
Key
General
†
Bowl game record attendance
‡
Former bowl game record attendance
Results
W
Win
L
Loss
T
Tie
Bowl games
List of bowl games showing bowl played in, score, date, season, opponent, stadium, location, attendance and head coach[ A 1]
#
Bowl
Score[ A 2]
Date
Season[ A 3]
Opponent[ A 4]
Stadium
Location
Attendance[ 3]
Head coach
1
Rose Bowl
W 28–0
January 1, 1921
1920
Ohio State Buckeyes
Tournament Park
Pasadena
42,000 ‡
Andy Smith
2
Rose Bowl
T 0–0
January 2, 1922
1921
Washington & Jefferson Presidents
Tournament Park
Pasadena
40,000
Andy Smith
3
Rose Bowl
L 8–7
January 1, 1929
1928
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Rose Bowl
Pasadena
66,604 ‡
Nibs Price
4
Rose Bowl
W 13–0
January 1, 1938
1937
Alabama Crimson Tide
Rose Bowl
Pasadena
90,000 ‡
Stub Allison
5
Rose Bowl
L 20–14
January 1, 1949
1948
Northwestern Wildcats
Rose Bowl
Pasadena
90,000
Pappy Waldorf
6
Rose Bowl
L 17–14
January 2, 1950
1949
Ohio State Buckeyes
Rose Bowl
Pasadena
100,963 ‡
Pappy Waldorf
7
Rose Bowl
L 14–6
January 1, 1951
1950
Michigan Wolverines
Rose Bowl
Pasadena
98,939
Pappy Waldorf
8
Rose Bowl
L 38–12
January 1, 1959
1958
Iowa Hawkeyes
Rose Bowl
Pasadena
98,297
Pete Elliott
9
Garden State Bowl
L 28–17
December 15, 1979
1979
Temple Owls
Giants Stadium
East Rutherford
40,207
Roger Theder
10
Copper Bowl
W 17–15
December 31, 1990
1990
Wyoming Cowboys
Arizona Stadium
Tucson
36,340
Bruce Snyder
11
Florida Citrus Bowl
W 37–13
January 1, 1992
1991
Clemson Tigers
Citrus Bowl
Orlando
64,192
Bruce Snyder
12
Alamo Bowl
W 37–3
December 31, 1993
1993
Iowa Hawkeyes
Alamodome
San Antonio
45,716 ‡
Keith Gilbertson
13
Aloha Bowl
L 42–38
December 25, 1996
1996
Navy Midshipmen
Aloha Stadium
Honolulu
43,380
Steve Mariucci
14
Insight Bowl
W 52–49
December 26, 2003
2003
Virginia Tech Hokies
Bank One Ballpark
Phoenix
42,364
Jeff Tedford
15
Holiday Bowl
L 45–31
December 30, 2004
2004
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Qualcomm Stadium
San Diego
66,222 †
Jeff Tedford
16
Las Vegas Bowl
W 35–28
December 22, 2005
2005
BYU Cougars
Sam Boyd Stadium
Las Vegas
40,053 ‡
Jeff Tedford
17
Holiday Bowl
W 45–10
December 28, 2006
2006
Texas A&M Aggies
Qualcomm Stadium
San Diego
62,395
Jeff Tedford
18
Armed Forces Bowl
W 42–36
December 31, 2007
2007
Air Force Falcons
Amon G. Carter Stadium
Fort Worth
44,009 †
Jeff Tedford
19
Emerald Bowl
W 24–17
December 27, 2008
2008
Miami Hurricanes
AT&T Park
San Francisco
42,268 †
Jeff Tedford
20
Poinsettia Bowl
L 37–27
December 23, 2009
2009
Utah Utes
Qualcomm Stadium
San Diego
32,665
Jeff Tedford
21
Holiday Bowl
L 21–10
December 28, 2011
2011
Texas Longhorns
Qualcomm Stadium
San Diego
56,313
Jeff Tedford
22
Armed Forces Bowl
W 55–36
December 29, 2015
2015
Air Force Falcons
Amon G. Carter Stadium
Fort Worth
38,915
Sonny Dykes
23
Cheez-It Bowl
L 10–7 OT
December 26, 2018
2018
TCU Horned Frogs
Chase Field
Phoenix, Arizona
33,121
Justin Wilcox
24
Redbox Bowl
W 35–20
December 30, 2019
2019
Illinois Fighting Illini
Levi's Stadium
Santa Clara, California
34,177
Justin Wilcox
25
Independence Bowl
L 34–14
December 16, 2023
2023
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Independence Stadium
Shreveport, Louisiana
33,071
Justin Wilcox
Notes
^ Statistics correct as of 2019–20 NCAA football bowl games .
^ Results are sortable first by whether the result was a California win, loss or tie and then second by the margin of victory .
^ Links to the season article for the California team that competed in the bowl for that year.
^ Links to the season article for the opponent that California competed against in the bowl for that year when available or to their general page when unavailable.
References
General
Specific