2018 football is still a ways away, but the scheduling of it is clear. Cal released their schedule for the 2018 season, highlighted by seven home games, every game being a Saturday game, and an earlier bye week than in 2017.
The Bears start by completing their home and home series with North Carolina. The Bears went to Chapel Hill for their first ever matchup with the Tar Heels and came away with a 35-30 victory in Justin Wilcox's first game. North Carolina has been ravaged by injuries in 2017, but will have a number of players back on offense, including QB Chazz Surratt and RB Michael Carter, both having solid performances against the Bears
The matchup with BYU completes a different home and home, one that started in 2014, as the Bears closed out that season with a 42-35 loss to the Cougars. BYU has struggled in 2017 as well, currently sitting at 3-8 with two more games remaining. The possibility is there that the Cougars could have a new coach by the time the Bears come in.
After a home contest with the FCS Idaho State Bengals, the Bears get a bye to prepare for Oregon. They head to Arizona, with a likely date with Khalil Tate looming, then get what may be a drastically different UCLA squad (without Josh Rosen, possibly without Jim Mora) at home.
After a trip to Corvallis to take on an Oregon State team with a new coach, the Bears will face a tough four game stretch. At home against Washington, who will likely have Jake Browning in his final year, on the road in Pullman against the Air Raid, before heading down to the LA Coliseum for a date with USC. Stanford will come up for the Big Game the week after that, and Bryce Love will likely still be there, before Cal finishes off 2018 with a home game against Colorado after Thanksgiving.
Commentary
- No weekday games make this a nice schedule. Seven home games make it even nicer, and with Cal in their second year under Wilcox, returning 10 starters on offense (Jordan Veasy is the only senior starter on that side) along with 7 on the defensive side, it's a group that has the experience to make more of a run, and certainly to be favored in more games than just the two they've been favored in in 2017.
- The bye week timing is a change, as there have been complaints about late bye weeks this year for a number of teams, like Cal getting theirs after week 10, or USC not having a bye. Also, with no weekday games, there's none of the Saturday road game, Friday road game combo that has been deadly for Pac-12 teams on the year.
