Cal will open the season near the bottom of the ACC pecking order, landing at No. 12 in the conference’s preseason media poll released Tuesday.
The annual vote was cast by 188 media members credentialed for the ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte, N.C., from July 15-17. Miami came out as the clear favorite, earning first-place votes on 165 ballots and finishing well ahead of SMU, Louisville and Clemson.
The Hurricanes arrive with plenty of momentum after a 13-3 season that featured College Football Playoff wins over Texas A&M, Ohio State and Ole Miss before a 27-21 loss to Indiana in the national championship game.
For Cal, the preseason slot marks a small step up from last year, when the Bears were projected 15th. They ended up in a five-way tie for seventh at 4-4 in the final 2025 conference standings.
That was a notable bounce-back from their first ACC season, when they were picked 10th, picked up two first-place votes, and then finished in a three-way tie for 14th.
The Bears also have a bit of recent history tied to the top of the league race. In 2025, the media tabbed Clemson as the conference favorite with 167 of 183 first-place votes, but the Tigers finished in that same five-way share of seventh place.
Virginia was the surprise champion that season at 7-1 after entering the year slotted 14th in the preseason poll.
The year before, Florida State was the media’s narrow choice to win the league ahead of Clemson, Miami and North Carolina State. Instead, SMU - in its first year in the conference - went 8-0 to capture the title, with Clemson and Miami following behind.
Florida State finished alone in last place at 1-7, and its lone win came against Cal in a 14-9 game at Tallahassee.
The full preseason poll had Miami first, followed by SMU, Louisville, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Virginia, NC State, Virginia Tech, Pitt, Duke, Florida State, California, Wake Forest, Syracuse, North Carolina, Boston College and Stanford.
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