Cal Picked to Finish Near the Bottom of ACC in Media Poll

Cal did not get much love from the ACC media members who voted on the conference's predicted order of finish in football for 2025.

The Bears, who has a lot of turnover on the roster as well as their coaching staff, are picked to finish 15th in the 17-team ACC in the media poll. Cal went 6-7 last season, including 2-6 in the ACC as the Bears went 1-5 in ACC games decided by a touchdown or less.

The promising aspect is that Cal will not face the teams picked to finish first and second in the ACC -- Clemson, which is the pick to win the conference, and Miami, which is picked to finish second.

The highest preseason ACC pick that Cal will face in 2025 is SMU, which is voted to finish third. Cal will not face Georgia Tech, which is picked to finish fourth.

Here are the Bears eight 2025 ACC opponents and where each of those teams is picked to finish in the preseason media poll.

Boston College, September 27 on the road -- Boston College is picked to finish 13th.

Duke, October 4, at home -- Duke is picked to finish sixth

North Carolina, October 17th, at home -- UNC is picked to finish eighth

Virginia Tech, October 24, on the road -- Virginia Tech is picked to finish 11th

Virginia, November 1, at home -- Virginia is picked to finish 14th

Louisville, November 8, on the road -- Louisville is picked to finish fifth

Stanford, November 22, on the road -- Stanford is picked to finish 17th (last)

SMU, November 29, at home -- SMU is picked to finish third

Here are the results of the ACC preseason media poll (with first-place votes in parentheses followed by total voting points)

1. Clemson (167) - 3083

2. Miami (7) - 2679

3. SMU (2) - 2612

4. Georgia Tech (2) - 2397

5. Louisville - 2370

6. Duke - 1973

7. Florida State (4) - 1920

8. North Carolina - 1611

9. Pitt - 1571

10. NC State - 1505

11. Virginia Tech (1) - 1412

12. Syracuse - 1381

13. Boston College - 953

14. Virginia - 871

15. California - 659

16. Wake Forest - 576

17. Stanford - 426

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