Justin Wilcox Likes New ACC Schedule Model If It’s the Same Everywhere

Cal head coach Justin Wilcox is in favor of the nine-game ACC schedule with a minimum of 10 games against Power 4 conference teams that was approved by the conference’s athletic directors on Monday. But he has a caveat.

“Generally speaking it’s good,” he said Tuesday. “It would be great if there was some parity throughout all the conferences – league games and Power 4 games, if you would. I think that looking for parity is a good thing. But generally speaking it’s good thing.

“There’s probably a lot of questions, and who else is doing it, and what other game are you going to play, that are being discussed.”

The new schedule is expected to ratified by the ACC schools' faculty representatives this week and will probably go into effect in 2026.

The Bears are currently scheduled to play eight ACC games next season, and Wilcox said he does not know which of Cal’s four nonconference games for next year will be canceled to allow for a ninth ACC game, saying he does not make that decision. Cal is scheduled to face UCLA and Wagner at home next season and UNLV and BYU on the road in its nonconference games. One of those games would have to be eliminated.

.The ACC office presumably will decide which ACC opponent Cal will add for next season. Clemson, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Stanford, North Carolina State, SMU, Syracuse and Virginia are the eight conference opponents already on the Bears' conference schedule for 2026.

The four Power 4 conferences will all play nine conference games next season, so that part will satisfy Wilcox. The Big 12 and Big Ten already play nine conference games, and the Southeastern Conference will go to a nine-game SEC schedule next year.

However, the SEC and ACC will be the only two power conferences that will require their teams to play at least 10 games against Power 4 opponents. The Big Ten and Big 12 schedules don’t have that stipulation. Indiana, Penn State, Washington and Maryland of the Big Ten, for example, play no nonconference games against Power 4 opponents this year, so its only Power 4 conference opponents are the nine it faces in Big Ten play.

Wilcox apparently would like to see all four Power 4 conferences conform to the same scheduling model.

.Cal (3-1) plays its 2025 ACC opener on Saturday afternoon at Boston College, which is 1-2 but is a 6.5-point favorite in that game as of Tuesday.

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