Saturday’s 33-7 win against UCLA was a full circle moment for the Bears, in just about every sense of the word.

An end to the Bears’ regular season. An end to the Pac-12. One final win over an old rival.

And what a win it was.

After an entire season of offensive, defensive and special teams unit woes, it seemed like all three phases finally came together just in time to help Cal get a sixth win and secure a bowl berth. The offense put on a masterclass of going up against a tough and much talked about UCLA defense, the defense held the Bruins to just one touchdown while special teams accounted for a whopping 21 of Cal’s 33 points.

After weeks of struggles and tough losses and almost hoping for the worst (which, I admit, I am partly responsible for), this Cal team is on a three-game win streak and heading to a bowl game for the first time since 2019.

Perhaps more importantly than any of that — though many diehard Cal fans, and, more specifically, UCLA haters, may disagree — this was essentially the perfect sendoff for the Pac-12 Conference.

Cal played in the first game after the conference’s founding. It also played in the last. And not just played: In the last-ever Pac-12 regular season game, the Bears routed a longstanding rival in UCLA, one of the first teams to announce its departure from the Pac-12 alongside USC.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start with the team.