California is bowl eligible before getting set to finish its regular season against 8-3 SMU on Saturday.

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Cal interim head coach Nick Rolovich has a chance to impact the ACC championship game and College Football Playoff race by upsetting the Mustangs.

Following the Golden Bears’ embarrassing 31-10 loss to Stanford on Saturday, the program fired head coach Justin Wilcox amid a 6-5 start to the season.

College football defensive Coordinator Tosh Lupoi of the Oregon Ducks is expected to take the Cal coaching job.

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The national coaching search isn’t expected to last very long.

College football insider Steven Godfrey claimed Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi is expected to be named as the next head coach at Cal.

“One more thing in the coaching carousel, by the way, Cal fired Justin Wilcox, Godfrey said on an episode of “College Football Enquirer” on Tuesday. “They’re going to hire Tosh Lupoi. That’s pretty much all we need to say. Congratulations new Cal football coach, Tosh Lupoi, in advance.”

On Sunday, On3’s Pete Nakos named Lupoi as a “prime” target for the Golden Bears. Lupoi was thought to be a logical candidate for the UCLA opening.

Lupoi played as a defensive lineman for the Golden Bears from 2000 to 2005. He began his coaching career as a defensive line coach in 2008.

Lupoi, 44, left California for Washington to become its defensive line coach in 2012. He spent five years with Alabama, working his way up from defensive analyst to defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach. He won two national championships with Alabama.

Following his stint with the Crimson Tide, Lupoi had stops in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns (defensive line coach), Atlanta Falcons (defensive line coach and run game coordinator) and Jacksonville Jaguars (defensive line coach). 

Lupoi joined the Ducks in 2022 as their defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Amid Lupoi to Cal chatter, No. 7 Oregon is set to finish its regular season on the road against Washington on Saturday. The Ducks are squarely in the hunt to make the College Football Playoff.

While head coach Dan Lanning is committed to staying with the Ducks, the team might have to deal with some distractions regarding other staff members in the postseason.

For more on the NCAA, head to Newsweek Sports.