Cal's 2026 ACC Football Schedule Set -- Bears Could Have 3 Friday Games

Cal will play an early-season conference game and could play three Friday night ACC games next season.

The ACC announced its conference schedule for the 2026 season, which will be the first season for new Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi. The Bears will play just one nonconference game – their season-opener against UCLA on September 5 – before playing their first ACC game of the season – a September 12 road game against Syracuse.

Cal typically likes to play a couple nonconference games before getting into conference play. In 2025, the Bears played all four of their nonconference games before playing their first ACC game. Cal plays only three nonconference games in 2026.

The 2026 Big Game will be played on November 21, when Cal hosts Stanford. That is the next-to-last game of the season.

Cal’s 2026 ACC opponents and sites had been announced in December, but the dates of those games were announced on Monday.

Cal will definitely play at least one Friday game and that will be the Bears' ACC home opener against Clemson on September 25. Two other ACC games could be played on a Friday or a Saturday -- a road game against SMU on October 23 or 24, and a road game the following week against North Carolina State on October 30 or 31.

The ACC season will be an odd one because 12 conference teams, including Cal, will play nine ACC games, which is one more than last season, but five ACC teams will play just eight ACC games because of scheduling conflicts. How that will work itself out in the final standings could provide some debate.

Because Cal had to add a ninth ACC opponents, which turned out to be Pitt, the Bears had to eliminate one nonconference opponent. The originally scheduled 2026 and 2027 games against BYU were canceled as a result.

Cal’s five 2026 ACC home games are against Clemson (September 25), Virginia Tech (October 10), Wake Forest (October 17), Stanford (November 21) and Pitt (November 28).

Cal’s four 2026 ACC road games are against Syracuse (September 12), SMU (October 23), North Carolina State (October 30) and Virginia (November 14).

Cal will not face seven ACC teams in 2026. The Bears will not play Miami, the College Football Playoff national runnerup, in 2026, nor will the Bears play 2025 ACC champion Duke, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Boston College and North Carolina.

The dates of Cal’s three nonconference games have not changed -- UCLA (September 5 at Cal), Wagner (September 19 at Cal) and UNLV (October 3 at UNLV).

Cal's 2026 football schedule:

September 5 – UCLA at Cal

September 12 -- Cal at Syracuse

September 19 – Wagner at Cal

September 25 (Friday) -- Clemson at Cal

October 3 – Cal at UNLV

October 10 -- Virginia Tech at Cal

October 17 -- Wake Forest at Cal

Octomber 23 or 24 (Friday or Saturday) -- Cal at SMU

October 30 or 31 (Friday or Saturday) -- Cal at North Carolina State

November 7 -- Open

November 14 -- Cal at Virginia