Preseason Coaches Poll Indicates a Favorable Schedule for Cal

The Golden Bears face only two top-25 opponents and none higher than No. 20

Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The preseason coaches college football poll revealed on Monday suggests that Cal has a favorable 2026 football schedule.

The Bears do not face any team ranked in the top 15 this season, and the only opponents ranked in the top 25 are SMU, which is ranked 20th and hosts Cal on October 24, and Clemson, which is No. 23 and comes to Berkeley for a big game on Friday night, September 25.

Cal does not face the highest ranked ACC team, Miami, which is No. 7 in the coaches poll and the overwhelming favorite to win the ACC title in the conference media poll.  

None of Cal’s three nonconference opponents – UCLA, UNLV or Wagner – is ranked, but UNLV received 17 voting points and could be ranked by the time Cal faces the Rebels in Las Vegas on October 3. UNLV is favored to win the Mountain West Conference title and could be 4-0 when it hosts the Bears.

Of course, several teams could be ranked by the time Cal faces that team.  A number of teams unranked in preseason always jump into the top 25 before the season is too far along.

Last season, 11 of the teams unranked in the preseason coaches poll were in the top 25 of the final coaches poll.

Clemson, which was ranked No. 6 in the 2025 preseason poll, finished with the same record as Cal – 7-6 overall and 4-4 in the ACC.

Virginia was not one of the 51 teams that received votes in the 2025 coaches preseason poll, but the Cavaliers wound up with the best record in ACC games.

So what seems like a favorable Cal schedule now may turn into something a lot more challenging.

Only three ACC teams are ranked in the preseason top-25, and Miami is the only one in the top 10. That suggests that the conference is wide open, and Cal may have a chance to sneak in as a contender.

Meanwhile, nine teams from the Southeastern Conference are in the top 25 of the coaches poll, and eight Big Ten teams are ranked, including the top two, Ohio State and Oregon. Four Big 12 teams are ranked.

The coaches poll is one of the two main top-25 polls. The Associated Press media poll will be released on August 17, although it’s unlikely to reveal any dramatic differences from the coaches poll.

Cal began preseason training camp on Wednesday and opens its season with a Saturday night game on September 5 at home against unranked UCLA.