Bowl Destination: Redbox vs. Illinois

As was anticipated from almost the instant the team became bowl eligible Cal will be playing in the Redbox Bowl at Levi’s Stadium on Dec. 30.

The opponent for the 1 p.m. kickoff will be Illinois of the Big Ten as all the bowl matchups were announced Sunday. 

The Bears (7-5, 4-5 Pac-12) will be playing in a bowl game for the second straight year, having lost to Texas Christian in the Cheez-It Bowl last season.

The Illini (6-6, 4-5 Big Ten), have some impressive wins this year including one over conference runner-up Wisconsin that started a four-game win streak.

“I think it’s great for our program in a lot of ways,” head coach Justin Wilcox said after the announcement. “We expect to be going to bowl games. I am just proud of how our team finished the season and how it enabled us to be in this position. To get into the Redbox Bowl and all our fans locally being able to come and support us and play an opponent like Illinois.”

The players also seemed pleased to be staying close to home.

“It is basically another home game,” linebacker Evan Weaver said. “Great environment, great for the Cal program. Back to back bowl games to finish up my career is wonderful.”

Said tackle Jake Curhan: “It is exciting stuff, we get to stay locally and get all of our fans to come out. I’m excited. I’m from the area I will have a lot of friends and family.”

Although most bowl handicappers had the Bears in the Redbox against either Illinois or Iowa, Wilcox said he hasn’t spent a any time yet looking at the Illini. He said there were too many scenarios that involved too many teams.

“I know Coach (Lovie) Smith is a heckuva coach,” Wilcox said. “I know they have done a great job this year, had some big wins, come a long way in the last few years. He is obviously an exceptional coach and it’s a storied program. It is going to be a great matchup,”

Speaking of matchups, the nation’s two leading tacklers will be on the field. Weaver is tops with 173, 26 ahead of Illinois’ Dele Harding.

One benefit of bowl participation is two weeks' worth of extra practices. The Bears, who willl retake the field for the first time Friday, used a portion of the sessions last year to give work to their less experienced players. Wilcox said they will do so again.

“We will get almost a spring ball’s worth of practice and a good portion of that will be developmental,” Wilcox said. “The Evan Weavers, Jake Curhans, Cam Bynums they will practice But there will be periods set aside for guys who either didn’t play this year or had limited reps Every time they go out there on the field and practice they have a chance to get better.

“It also allows us to train throughout December and train our bodies. This allows us for  kind of a quicker acclimation in January when we come back because we haven’t been off for a month and a half.”

It also gives Cal’s injured players more time to heal. Wilcox had no word on their condition on Sunday, but said, “We are hopeful. You would think so,” Wilcox said. “But the doctors and trainers have to clear them.

Both Cal and Illinois have played in this bowl game but did so when it was held in San Francisco. The Bears defeated Miami, 24-17, in the 2008 Emerald Bowl. Illinois won the 2011 Fight Hunger Bowl. 

Illinois leads the all-time series, 7-3, but the Bears have won the last two meetings, 31-24 in Champaign, Ill., in 2003 and 35-20 in Berkeley in 2005.