How Cal Twitter Meme’d Their Way To Hosting College Gameday

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This weekend, the greatest traveling road show in sports, ESPN’s College Gameday, will head to Cal for the first time. How did the Golden Bears finally grasp the attention of the sport? It all comes back to the Calgorithm.

The phenomenon started as most do—on X (née Twitter). After Cal’s win over Auburn early in September, a post from @golDONbear poking fun at the Tigers went mega-viral. The post, and those that would follow, was inspired in part by Cal’s left-leaning reputation.

Things moved fast from there. Group chats were established to spread the good word of the Calgorithm. Fans created more and more deranged images with the help of AI, positioning the Golden Bears as an online leftist mob taking on the big bads of college football.

The creative minds behind the Calgorithm continued to raise the stakes, using running back Jaydn Ott as inspiration for a new take on Chappell Roan’s breakout hit “Hot To Go” which will stay playing in your head from the time you watch it until kickoff on Saturday.

On the field, Cal got off to a 3-1 start, and after several public pitches to Gameday, Berkeley got the call. The Calgorithm’s online power had transcended from online memes to boots on the ground.

As if the chaos levels weren’t high enough already, Cal alum Marshawn Lynch was named as the weekend’s guest picker.

While we’ll obviously be tuning in to College Gameday on Saturday morning, there's plenty more to check out, too.

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