The 127th Big Game is shaping up to be an eventful one with Cal set to reunite the 2004 team led by Aaron Rodgers while hosting Stanford in the annual Bay Area rivalry matchup. The Bears need one more win to secure bowl eligibility, and there is expected to be a massive crowd at California Memorial Stadium for the game as well.
Expected to be attendance and among the crowd Saturday is the most important recruit in the Bears' 2025 recruiting class.
Quarterback Jaron Sagapolutele received another bump in ranking Tuesday as he jumped up 82 spots to No. 90 in the updated rankings for his class on the heels of a successful senior season at Campbell High School in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.
"Yessir I’m visiting them this weekend," the No. 1-ranked prospect from the Aloha State told Golden Bear Report in a message Tuesday evening confirming his return visit to Cal.
Georgia and Oregon both continue to pursue the 6-foot-2 signal caller with Sagapolutele taking an official visit to see the Ducks last month and the Bulldogs working to get him on campus for an official visit in recent weeks.
High school playoffs have complicated those plans, but the plan is that Sagapolutele will visit Georgia next week after making his way back to Berkeley for an unofficial visit for this weekend's game against Stanford.
Sagapolutele took an official visit to Cal before committing to the program in July.
Since that time other programs have entered the picture with Utah joining Oregon and Georgia on that list. Both Oregon and Georgia hold commitments from other quarterbacks in the 2025 class while the Bears hold a preferred walk-on pledge from in-state three-star recruit Alonzo Esparza.
The next week will determine Sagapolutele's future, but the Bears have certainly positioned themselves well for the No. 10-ranked pro-style quarterback in the class.
"That's one of the most important things for me," Sagapolutele previously said about Cal's efforts to prioritize him in the class. "I don't want to go to a place where I'm a second option and they never really wanted me. I'm just happy that I know that this is a place where I'm their number one guy."
That Sagapolutele remains committed to the Bears despite national powers such as Georgia and Oregon continue to pursue him speaks to the importance of Cal's early attention and should provide the program with confidence that his pledge will stick.
When he committed to Cal in July, Sagapolutele had other programs already sparking new interest in him following a standout showing at the Elite 11 event. As the four-star recruit moved into his senior season, he racked up stellar stats while leading Campbell to nine wins.
As a senior, Sagapoultele completed 70.5% of his passes and finished with 3,404 yards passing and 46 passing touchdowns against just an eye-popping 3 interceptions. He also tacked on a pair of rushing touchdowns this season.
Sagapolutele would be the future QB in waiting in Berkeley and would be the second highest-rated signal caller to sign with the Bears in the Rivals era that dates back to 2002. Current Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff was rated No. 140th overall by Rivals while the highest-rated quarterback to join the Bears in the history of the company was San Ramon Valley's Zach Kline, who checked in at No. 44 overall.
Even with his jump up the rankings, there is a chance that Sagapolutele moves up again when all is said and done with Rivals national director Adam Gorney writing Tuesday that he feels the Cal commit could still be too low at No. 90 overall.
There will be another round of rankings updates following the various all-star games with Sagapolutele set to play in the Polynesian Bowl in his home state later this winter.
The early signing period opens up two weeks from Wednesday — Dec. 4 — at which point 2025 recruits can sign financial aid paperwork with programs around the country.
Tuesday, Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said his program plans to be "very, very aggressive" down the stretch of the 2025 recruiting cycle both on the high school side and in the transfer portal.
That will begin this weekend with one last opportunity to secure a signature from one of the top-rated quarterbacks to ever commit to the program.
