Cal Hopes To Still Be Among the ACC Unbeatens after Week 6

The ACC could be down as few as three teams still undefeated in conference play by the end of Saturday night. Cal hopes to be one of them.

Nine ACC teams enter play this week with zeroes on the right side of their conference ledger. At least two of them will go down this weekend, as many as six could lose.

The Bears (4-1, 1-0) and Duke (3-2, 2-0) will collide at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night, relegating one of them to the ranks of the once-beaten in league play. Coach Justin Wilcox talks in the video above about the Blue Devils.

Likewise, No. 24 Virginia (4-1, 2-0) visits Louisville (4-0, 1-0) in another duel of conference unbeatens.

While No. 17 Georgia Tech (5-0, 2-0) has a bye, Virginia Tech (2-3, 1-0) hosts Wake Forest (2-2, 0-2). Elsewhere, No. 3 Miami (4-0, 0-0) North Carolina (2-2, 0-0) and SMU (2-2, 0-0) all make their ACC debuts.

Here are the Week 6 matchups in the ACC:

(Point spreads provided by DraftKings)

SATURDAY

— Boston College (plus-6.5) at Pittsburgh, 9 a.m., ACC Network

The Eagles have lost three in a row since beating Form 66-10. Pittsburgh has dropped its past two but both were tight — a 31-24 overtime loss at West Virginia and a 34-27 defeat to Louisville. We like Pitt’s chances.

— Clemson (minus-14) at North Carolina, 9 a.m., ESPN

Two of the ACC’s biggest underachievers — with its two biggest-name coaches — collide at UNC. Dabo Swinney’s Clemson squad was No. 4 in the preseason AP Top-25 poll and now is 0-2 in the ACC for the first time since 2010. Bill Belichick’s six Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots have translated to just a 2-2 start at Carolina, including lopsided defeats to TCU and UCF.

— Wake Forest (plus-6.5) at Virginia Tech, 10 a.m., The CW Network

Tech has won two in a row since an 0-3 start, including a 23-21 viceroy at NC State in which Tyrion Stewart rushed for 177 yards and two TDs. At play for Wake is how it responds after a heartbreaking upset bid of unbeaten Georgia Tech was derailed by a failed two-point try after a touchdown in overtime, a 30-29 loss that left the Demon Deacons 0-2 in the ACC.

— Campbell (no line) at NC State, 11 a.m., ESPN+/ACC Extra

The Fighting Camels, an FCS-level team in the Colonial Athletic Association, are 1-4 thanks to a 50-48 double-overtime win over Bryant. They are allowing 41.0 points per game, have eight turnovers and have punted 28 times. This won’t take long.

— No. 24 Virginia (plus-7.5) at Louisville, 12:30 p.m., ESPN2

The Cavaliers, averaging 45.6 points per game and ranked in the AP Top-25 for the first time since 2019, likely will need to score big again to hold off the Cardinals, who are putting up points at a 38.3 clip.

— Syracuse (plus-16.5) at SMU, 12:30 p.m., ACC Network

The Orange came apart in a 38-3 loss to Duke last week in their first game without injured quarterback Steve Angeli. SMU hasn’t dazzled anyone yet, but shouldn’t struggle too much in this one.

— No. 3 Miami (minus-4.5) at No. 18 Florida State, 4:30 p.m., ABC

The unbeaten Hurricanes play in the weekend’s highest-profile conference game, as road favorites against No. 18 Florida State (3-1, 0-1). The Seminoles are coming off a 46-38 double-overtime loss at Virginia and they lost 36-14 at Miami a year ago. But they were good enough to beat Albam 31-17 in the season opener, promising this will be a dynamite matchup.

— Duke (minus-3) at Cal, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

For what it’s worth, Cal has won each of its previous three games against FBS opponents as an underdog and lost its lone game as the betting favorite. All of which suggests Vegas still does not have a firm handle on these Bears.

Follow Jeff Faraudo on Twitter, Facebook and Bluesky

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