Cal Gets Votes in the Preseason AP Football Poll

Cal got one voting point in the coaches poll released two weeks ago, but the Bears did one better in the Associated Press preseason college football media poll.

The Golden Bears received two voting points in the AP poll released Monday. That means that one of the 69 voters placed Cal No. 24 on his ball or two voters put Cal at No. 25 on their ballots.

A look at the initial AP top-25 rankings suggests Cal has a favorable 2026 schedule. The Bears don't play any team ranked in the top 15 and the only opponent ranked in the top 25 is SMU, which is ranked 19th and hosts Cal in Dallas on October 24.

Only three ACC teams are ranked -- SMU, Miami, which is No. 7, and Louisville, which comes it at No. 24. Cal does not face either Miami or Louisville this season.

Clemson is ranked just outside the top 25 in what would be No. 26. The Tigers are just five voting points behind No. 25 Missouri.

Cal hosts Clemson in what figures to be a pivotal ACC game in a Friday night game on September 25.

Neither of the Bears' prime nonconference opponents -- UCLA and UVLV -- is ranked, although the Rebels received two more voting points than Cal did.

Cal hosts UCLA in its season opener on Saturday night, September 5, and plays UNLV in a road game on October 3.

Cal is curently a 1.5-point favotire against UCLA, according to FanDuel. That means it's basically a tossup with both teams having new head coaches -- Tosh Lupoi for Cal and Bob Chesney for UCLA.

Cal finished with a 7-6 record last year, and that included a 4-4 record in the ACC. It was the first time since 2009 that Cal did not wind up with a losing conference mark, although the Bears are still looking to finish with winning conference record for the first time since that 2009 season, when the Bears went 5-4 in the Pac-10 under Jeff Tedford.

Cal cannot finish with a .500 record in conference play this season because the Bears play nine conference games instead of eight.

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