Let's take a look at Cal Football.
Best / Worst Case Record for :
Louisville | Virginia | Miami | Duke | Georgia Tech | SMU | Boston College | Pittsburgh | Virginia Tech | NC State | Clemson | Syracuse | North Carolina | Stanford| Wake Forest
California
As one of the ACC expansion teams along with SMU and Stanford, California hasn’t had the winning consistency of SMU, but they have been far more competitive than Stanford. Over the last two years, there have been wins over Auburn, Minnesota, SMU, and Louisville. There were losses like the 2024 defeat to a 2-10 Florida State team and San Diego State, among others. Justin Wilcox was an OK coach, but never could get Cal over the hump. Tosh Lupoi is now the coach at Cal, and he’s got some pieces to work with, especially one very talented quarterback.
Will Go 10-2 (6-2) if:
Cal starts the year 4-0. The Golden Bears have a QB in Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (JKS) that oozes potential. At times the QB looked like a future NFL quarterback. At others, he struggled forcing passes and reading defenses, but he has the ability in the world. If he develops consistency, and Cal knocks off UCLA, Syracuse, Wagner, and Clemson to start the season, then things could take off. There is a game at SMU, but that may be the only game where Cal is a sizeable underdog. The offense ranked 88th in the country in 2025, and that improves under JKS and improved pass protection; then they could be one of the surprise teams in the ACC.
Will Go 4-8 (2-6) if:
Cal struggles on the road. Road schedules are tough enough, but Cal has major miles to travel. There are games at Syracuse, at SMU, at NC State and at Virginia. A game at UNLV is high mileage, but still a tricky game. Cal could lose all 5 of those games. If the lines of scrimmage aren’t better overall, and JKS doesn’t take that step forward, then Cal opens the season 1-4. That UCLA game is huge, and in recent years Cal has been good for at least 1 solid OOC win. That’s an early-season game Cal must win.
