TCU is making its 16th bowl appearance in 18 years under Gary Patterson when its hits the field for the Cheez-It Bowl in Phoenix on Wednesday night. Cal, meanwhile, will be making its first bowl appearance since 2015 when Jared Goff threw for 467 yards and six touchdowns against Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. 

The Phoenix-based bowl game is one of a few played on a baseball field, taking over the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the night as these two defensively-minded teams try to pitch a shutout. 

Viewing information

Event: Cheez-It Bowl
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 26 | Time: 9 p.m. ET
Location: Chase Field -- Phoenix
TV: ESPN | Live stream: WatchESPN

Storylines

Cal: Justin Wilcox has brought an identity to Cal football that highlights his reputation as a defensive coach. He and Tim DeRuyter have proven to be effective in leading improvement on that side of the ball, peaking in the final half of the season with a 4-2 run that saw Cal hold opponents to 24 points or less at an average of 15.7 points per game. Individually, linebackers Jordan Kunaszyk and Evan Weaver lead all FBS duos in solo tackles per game (13.3) and all Power Five duos in total tackles per game (23.0), and Ashtyn Davis leads the Pac-12 in interceptions (4). All of this makes for the Cheez-It Bowl carrying a lot of significance for Wilcox here in his second season and first bowl appearance. The Bears will be fired up for this game, as it presents itself an opportunity to test this year's team against one of the most well-coached programs in college football. 

TCU: For TCU to even be in this position seems like a success for Gary Patterson and this injury-plagued Horned Frogs team. They saw 30 players go down to season-ending injuries including two starting quarterbacks, forcing dozens of freshmen and redshirt freshmen into early action as the team battled back from 3-5 to win three of its final four games and make the postseason. A huge part of the charge was the play of Grayson Muehlstein, who started the year as TCU's third-string quarterback with no collegiate pass attempts and stepped in on the road against Baylor, leading the team to a win against the Bears and then Oklahoma State in the regular-season finale. The steadying presence offensively has been wide receiver Jalen Reagor, who despite the turnover at quarterback, has the second-best single-season receiving total in program history, trailing only Josh Doctson's 2015 season. 

Game prediction, picks

Patterson is one of the most dangerous coaches to face with extended time to prepare, and that's reflected in his impressive 10-6 bowl record. Wilcox, on the other hand, is in his first bowl game as a coach. There's just a major advantage on the sideline that's tough to overlook, even with TCU down a handful of players because of season-ending injuries. The strongest play has to be the total, where you could not set a number low enough to make me uncomfortable Pick: TCU +1

Who wins TCU vs. California? And what critical x-factor causes one side of the spread to hit hard? Visit SportsLine now to see Zack Cimini's Cheez-It Bowl picks, all from the college football expert who's 7-2 picking Golden Bears games, and find out.