Cal Family, 
 
Happy Holidays to you all! We are continually grateful to each of you for helping us elevate our sport programs and enrich the experience for all 850+ Cal student-athletes. During this transformational time in college sports, our programs cannot succeed without the support of our generous community. 
 
It's certainly an exciting time to be a Golden Bear! We are thrilled to welcome Travers Family Head Football Coach Tosh Lupoi back to Berkeley. We celebrated his return with a memorable arrival, special events and a high-energy introduction that reflected the momentum around the program. As you know, Coach Lupoi immediately flew to Hawaii to meet with quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, helping secure his renewed commitment to Cal. Jaron's decision underscores the confidence our student-athletes have in the direction of the program under Coach Lupoi's leadership. The combination of Ron Rivera, Coach Lupoi and JKS brings us all great optimism as the program enters an exciting new chapter.
 


As they conclude their final exams this week, our student-athletes, band and spirit groups are all gearing up to travel to Hawai'i as we participate in the Sheraton Hawai?i Bowl against the University of Hawai?i next Thursday at 5 p.m. PT on ESPN. This exciting matchup marks the program's third consecutive bowl appearance — our longest streak since 2003-2009 — and the 27th bowl game in Cal Football history. We can't wait to turn Honolulu into Bear Territory as Cal Football takes the national stage for a final time in 2025! 

Looking ahead, the new era of Cal Football will begin with an exciting seven-game home schedule in 2026 that features an opening matchup against UCLA, a game against Clemson, and the 129th Big Game. Season ticket sales are now underway — renew or purchase your season tickets now to be a part of what's next here.

On the hardwood, men's basketball has opened the year with a 10-1 record — our best start since 2014 – and is earning votes in the Top 25 poll! The team has been building momentum through nonconference play, setting the stage for some exciting upcoming matchups at Haas Pavilion including Louisville (Dec. 30), Notre Dame (Jan. 2), Duke (Jan. 14) and North Carolina (Jan. 17). 
 
Women's Basketball has also begun the season well with an 8-4 record, showing consistency and competitiveness as the schedule ramps up. We encourage the Cal community to come out and support both programs and create a home court advantage — ticket information and upcoming game details are available here.
 
We hope you will also join us for the Cal night at the Warriors game on February 19th!  We are excited to watch Jaylen Brown and the Celtics take on our Golden State Warriors. You can purchase tickets here, and all tickets include a co-branded Warriors x Cal long sleeve shirt!
As we entered the 2025-26 year our focus was to create the framework for a sustainable financial model for Cal Athletics. In collaboration with the Chancellor and Ron Rivera, we are mapping our strategy through three clear verticals — increased viewership, attendance and revenue — and are making marked progress in these areas under the leadership of Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director for External, Beth Tafolla-Voetsch. Most recently, Beth and her team built out the incredible rollout for Coach Lupoi's introduction. From the spirited greeting on the tarmac to the meet & greet with alumni and the formal introduction of Coach Lupoi with Ron and the Chancellor, we made it clear to all that Cal is committed to operating at a championship level in all respects. We are excited to continue building a world-class team to elevate the Cal brand locally and nationally, including our hire this week of new Chief Marketing Officer Jason Hobar, who returns to Cal after 11 years leading global teams at Nike.  
 
We are committed to Cal Athletics being a great asset to the UC Berkeley community in numerous ways. In that regard, the campus recently launched a pioneering Women's Health and Performance Initiative, a multi-year effort designed to address long-standing gender gaps in health and athletic research by collecting and analyzing biometric and performance data specific to women. For decades, much of sports science and health research has relied on data drawn primarily from male subjects; this initiative aims to change that and improve outcomes for female athletes at all levels. The project will begin with female student-athletes at Cal and expand to include professional leagues and other institutions, using advanced machine learning to develop predictive models tailored to women's health needs. We are particularly grateful to Janet Napolitano for her commitment and leadership in supporting this transformative initiative, which positions Cal at the forefront of gender-focused research.
 
Finally, we recently spent two days in Las Vegas honoring Cal Football great Alex Mack, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. A first-ballot selection and Campbell Trophy winner, Mack became the 17th Golden Bear alum and 21st Cal Athletics honoree to be enshrined, underscoring the tradition of excellence within the Cal Football program. Alex's leadership, toughness and commitment to both athletics and academics defined his time at Cal. We proudly celebrate and congratulate him on this well-deserved milestone!
 
Thank you to everyone who supported Cal Athletics in 2025. As we approach the year's end, we invite you to consider making a gift to the team or program that means the most to you. To make your year-end contribution, please click here. Together, we will continue to build on the momentum that was created in 2025 to achieve greater successes in 2026 and beyond! 
 
As we close, we hope you are able to enjoy the holiday season with your family and friends, and cheers to a Happy New Year! 
 
Go Bears!

Jenny and Jay