California vs. San José State

California and San José State have 33 meetings on file, the first in 1953; California leads the series 27–⁠6 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s California 9–⁠1, and California has won the last 9.

Scheduled 2028 at California; 2031 at San José State. As the programs’ Wikipedia articles list them (CC BY-SA).

California wins
27
San José State wins
6
Ties
0
Earliest on file
1953
Longest streak
9 California
Current streak
9 California
Last 10 meetings
California 9–⁠1
Most recent
1996

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1950s2–⁠0
1960s5–⁠1
1970s8–⁠1
1980s5–⁠4
1990s7–⁠0
Average margin
20.2 points; 10 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At California
26–⁠6 California’s record at home
At San José State
0–⁠1 San José State’s record at home
Shutouts
4

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. California’s biggest win1994: California 55, San José State 0by 55 points
  2. San José State’s biggest win1966: San José State 24, California 0by 24 points
  3. Upset1972: San José State 17, California 10San José State had a 32% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1966: San José State 24, California 0San José State had a 34% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Coach against coach

YearsCaliforniaSeriesSan José State
1966–⁠1968Ray Willsey2–⁠1Harry Anderson
1973–⁠1975Mike White3–⁠0Darryl Rogers
1984–⁠1986Joe Kapp1–⁠2Claude Gilbert
1987–⁠1989Bruce Snyder2–⁠1Claude Gilbert
1993–⁠1995Keith Gilbertson3–⁠0John Ralston

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from California’s side (Willsey 2–⁠1 against Anderson). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of California and San José State, 1953 on1300150017001960197019801990200020102020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Every game

Sep 7, 1996California 45, San José State 25at San José State
Sep 23, 1995California 40, San José State 7at California
Oct 1, 1994California 55, San José State 0at California
Sep 25, 199320California 46, San José State 13at California
Sep 5, 199219California 46, San José State 16at California
Oct 26, 199110California 41, San José State 20at California
Oct 6, 1990California 35, San José State 34at California
Oct 7, 1989California 26, San José State 21at California
Oct 1, 1988California 21, San José State 14at California
Sep 12, 1987San José State 27, California 25at California
Sep 27, 1986San José State 35, California 14at California
Aug 31, 1985California 48, San José State 21at California
Sep 29, 1984San José State 33, California 18at California
Sep 17, 1983California 30, San José State 9at California
Oct 2, 1982California 26, San José State 7at California
Sep 26, 1981San José State 27, California 24at California
Sep 22, 1979California 13, San José State 10at California
Oct 1, 197717California 52, San José State 3at California
Oct 2, 1976California 43, San José State 16at California
Oct 4, 1975California 27, San José State 24at California
Sep 21, 1974California 17, San José State 16at California
Nov 10, 1973California 19, San José State 9at California
Sep 23, 1972San José State 17, California 10at California
Sep 25, 1971California 34, San José State 10at California
Nov 14, 1970California 35, San José State 28at California
Nov 15, 1969California 31, San José State 7at California
Oct 5, 196818California 46, San José State 0at California
Nov 11, 1967California 30, San José State 6at California
Oct 8, 1966San José State 24, California 0at California
Oct 19, 1963California 34, San José State 13at California
Sep 29, 1962California 25, San José State 8at California
Sep 25, 195417California 45, San José State 0at California
Oct 17, 195316California 34, San José State 14at California

Every game is listed as played on the field.