Although the eye test suggests that head coach Justin Wilcox’s program has improved every year of his tenure, on paper, the 2019 regular season has been the same as the 2018 season. Both teams were 7-5 heading into the bowl game, meaning that Cal must win its matchup against Illinois to continue its improvement in the record department.
Obviously, there have been some marquee wins that highlight the upward trend of the program — namely upset victories over Washington and Stanford — but Wilcox has yet to win a postseason game with the Bears. To prove to the Pac-12 that Cal is going to be a force over the next few years, Wilcox needs to win games when they count — and there’s no better opportunity to prove this than at the Redbox Bowl on Dec.