Ranking Cal's 2026 Football Games in Terms of Fan and National Interest

Cal will play 12 regular-season games in 2026, including nine ACC games, but they aren’t all of equal interest to Cal fans and the national college football audience.

Obviously the appeal of a given game will change based on preceding games, but from a preseason perspective we count down the appeal of each Cal game from a Bear fans’ viewpoint and a national perspective.

12 – Wagner, September 19, at Berkeley

The only way this will spark interest is if Cal fails to win by more than one touchdown against an FCS team predicted to finish behind Robert Morris and Long Island University in the Northeast Conference. The pregame buildup will be negligible, but the postgame banter will be sizable if Cal fails to dominate.

11 – North Carolina State, October 31, Raleigh, North Carolina

This late-season game between teams expected to finish in the middle of the ACC standings will get lost among games involving national and conference title contenders unless one team has surprising success. Cal fans must watch this far-away game on TV. The one attraction is the quarterback matchup involving Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and the Wolfpack’s CJ Bailey.

10 – Wake Forest, October 17, at Berkeley

Being a home game for Cal makes It a little more appealing to Golden Bears’ fans, but unless the Demon Deacons are better than expected – they are picked to finish near the bottom of the ACC standings – few outside the Bay Area will pay attention.

9 – Virginia, November 14, at Charlottesville, Virginia

The Cavaliers finished the 2025 season with the best ACC record and are expected to contend again this year. This late-season game could draw national attention based on Virginia’s chances to earn a berth in the ACC championship game.

8 – UNLV, October 3, at Las Vegas

UNLV is picked to win the Mountain West Conference, and Cal fans will see this as an early-season game in which the Bears can make a national impact. But it is a nonconference game, which degrades the appeal, and the Mountain West is not what it was a year ago before the departure of four schools, including Boise State and Fresno State.

7 – Virginia Tech, October 10, at Berkeley

Every game involving new Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin will attract attention, especially early in the season (It is the third conference game for both teams). The Hokies are expected to finish near the top of the ACC standings, and Cal supporters may see this as a pivotal contest after losing to the Hokies in double overtime last year.

6 – Syracuse, September 12, at Syracuse, New York

Although this contest means little nationally, it will mean a lot to Cal fans because it is early in the season and is the Bears’ first conference game. The Orange are projected to finish near the bottom of the ACC standings, and the Cal faithful are expecting a decisive road victory and a positive start to conference play.

5 – Pittsburgh, November 28, at Berkeley

This is the last regular-season game for both teams, and we can only hope that Sagapolutele and Pitt quarterback Matt Heinschel are healthy and having the kind of seasons expected of them. They were two of the top true freshman quarterbacks in the country last year, and if one of these teams is surpassing preseason expectations – which is very possible – this could be an enthralling matchup, as ACC Network analyst Max Browne indicates in the video atop this story.

4 – SMU, October 24, at Dallas, Texas

The Mustangs are expected to challenge Miami for the ACC title and could be a contender for a College Football Playoff berth. SMU is presumed to be Cal’s toughest 2026 opponent, and Cal fans and the nation will wonder just how good SMU and Cal are. The quarterback duel between Sagapolutele and Kevin Jennings will spice up the matchup.

3 – Clemson, September 25, at Berkeley

This is a Friday night game, which automatically gives it national interest. But if Cal is 2-1 or 3-0 entering this home game, Bears fans will be champing at the bit to see whether this Tosh Lupoi squad can handle a traditional national power like Clemson, which is not the powerhouse of recent years but is still expected to finish near the top of the ACC standings.

2 – Stanford, November 21, at Berkeley

Unless one of these teams is exceeding preseason predictions by the time this game rolls around, the national audience won’t pay much attention. But it will be a big deal for Cal fans, partly because it’s the Big Game, which is always a big deal and draws big crowds, and partly because Cal played its worst game of the season against the Cardinal last year, when Stanford won 31-10 and Justin Wilcox was fired the next day.

1 – UCLA, September 5, at Berkeley

It’s the season opener for both teams, and both fan bases are brimming with enthusiasm because of the hiring of new head coaches making their debut – Bob Chesney at UCLA and Tosh Lupoi at Cal. This game is seen as a tossup (Cal is a 1.5-point favorite at home), and grand, premature conclusions will be drawn about both teams and their quarterbacks based on the result of this opening game. A lot is expected of UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava and Cal’s Sagapolutele. Adding to the appeal is it revives the long-time, popular rivalry between these two University of California schools, who played each other 94 times in the PCC/AAWU/Pac-8/Pac-10/ Pac-12 until the annual matchup was interrupted after the 2023 season when UCLA joined the Big Ten, much to Cal's chagrin. And it's a night game on ESPN, so the nation will be watching -- if those folks can stay awake.

Add us as a preferred source on Google