Cal Shut Out in Preseason All-ACC Football Selections

ACC presents only a first-team preseason all-conference squad

Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It should come as no surprise that no Cal player was named to the preseason All-ACC football squad, which was announced Wednesdy.

Eight Miami players -- Malachi Toney is named at two positions -- and players from 11 of the 17 ACC teams are on the preseason all-conference squad determined by the vote of 188 media members.

Cal, Stanford, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest are the only ACC teams not represented on the all-ACC team.

Miami quarterback Darian Mensah was voted the preseason ACC player of the year, with SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings second. Four of the nine players who received votes for ACC player of the year are quarterbacks -- Mensah, Jennings, CJ Bailey of North Carolina State and Mason Heintschel of Pitt. Cal's Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele did not receive any votes for conference player of the year even though On SI ranked him as the 16th best quarterback among all Power Four conference starting quarterbacks.

No Cal players were named on the 2025 preseason All-ACC team either, but three Cal players -- wide receiver Jacob De Jesus, linebacker Cade Uluave and cornerback Hezekiah Masses -- were first-team All-ACC selections after the season was over. None of those three is on this year's Cal roster.

Cal has several players who might be in contention for All-ACC honors after this season, including Sagapolutele, wide receivers Ian Strong and Chase Henricks and tight ends Dorian Thomas and Mason Mini. A lot will depend on how well Cal performs this season. The Golden Bears were picked to finish 12th in the preseason ACC media poll.

Cal opens its season in a September 5 home game against UCLA, renewing a longtime rivalry that was interrupted when UCLA moved to the Big Ten and Cal went to the ACC. The teams did not play each other in either of the past two seasons, but they are scheduled to face each other in each of the next four seasons.

All-ACC | ACC website

ACC preseason player of the year | ACC website

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