ACC Preseason Previews

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Cal88
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7:31p, 7/20/26
The season is only 4-5 weeks away, a lot of previews are out already.

This one has us at #10, with 4 teams on our schedule ahead of us and 4 below, saying weakness at OL is going to keep us in the middle of the pack.



This guy has us as a dark horse and biggest surprise in the ACC at #4:



Predicts 9-3 season, praises strong roster, believer in Tosh and very high praise for JKS.

SMU online beat writer also has us at #4:


ESPN writer David Hale has us at #10, in tier 5 out of 8:
https://davidhale.substack.com/p/guessin-season

Quote:
- TIER 5 -
8. Virginia Tech Hokies
9. Pittsburgh Panthers
10. Cal Bears

Wes Durham loves Pitt this year. I'm a little more tepid, but I do think this will be Narduzzi's best O-line in years. I really like Cal, but it's a riskier bet aside from the QB. And everyone seems to like VT, which may be justified but I still think they're a year away from being a real challenger for a playoff bid.


Analyst from the CW has us all the way down at 12:


Another vote of confidence from an analyst with 65k followers who also has us at #4:







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Strykur
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3:27p, 7/21/26
Adding a bunch of playmakers will make up for OL deficiencies, last year even when he had time JKS only had one WR to consistently throw to plus we had no backfield
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calumnus
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In reply to Strykur • 8:20p, 7/21/26
Strykur said:
Adding a bunch of playmakers will make up for OL deficiencies, last year even when he had time JKS only had one WR to consistently throw to plus we had no backfield

Absolutely. Scheme and playcalling can give your OL a big advantage. Remember in 2023 when Ott lead the Pac-12 in rushing and Bearinsider was convinced we finally had a great OL and OL coach? Then Spavital left/was pushed out before the bowl game and then line was suddenly terrible again? And then was terrible the whole next year?
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HearstMining
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In reply to calumnus • 9:01p, 7/21/26
calumnus said:
Strykur said:
Adding a bunch of playmakers will make up for OL deficiencies, last year even when he had time JKS only had one WR to consistently throw to plus we had no backfield

Absolutely. Scheme and playcalling can give your OL a big advantage. Remember in 2023 when Ott lead the Pac-12 in rushing and Bearinsider was convinced we finally had a great OL and OL coach? Then Spavital left/was pushed out before the bowl game and then line was suddenly terrible again? And then was terrible the whole next year?

300+ of those Ott yards were in one game (Arizona, I think) and it was a helluva lot of fun to watch, bringing back memories of Muncie, White, Best,etc . Regarding 2024, one guy who wasn't fooled regarding the quality of coaching was Mendoza.
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Strykur
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In reply to HearstMining • 12:19p, 7/22/26
HearstMining said:
calumnus said:
Strykur said:
Adding a bunch of playmakers will make up for OL deficiencies, last year even when he had time JKS only had one WR to consistently throw to plus we had no backfield

Absolutely. Scheme and playcalling can give your OL a big advantage. Remember in 2023 when Ott lead the Pac-12 in rushing and Bearinsider was convinced we finally had a great OL and OL coach? Then Spavital left/was pushed out before the bowl game and then line was suddenly terrible again? And then was terrible the whole next year?

300+ of those Ott yards were in one game (Arizona, I think) and it was a helluva lot of fun to watch, bringing back memories of Muncie, White, Best,etc . Regarding 2024, one guy who wasn't fooled regarding the quality of coaching was Mendoza.

Ott's 300 yard game was against Arizona in 2022 with a bunch of toss sweeps which we never saw in the Spavital playbook (or really ever) after that game
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Cal88
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12:48p, 7/22/26
An optimistic take on our prospects:



" One of the most underrated teams heading into the 2026 season is Cal

The Golden Bears have been largely off-the-radar for most of the offseason and are disrespectfully rated 62nd by the ESPN FPI heading into this fall.

However, I believe they've assembled a very solid roster and may surprise a lot of people.

This will be year 1 under new head coach Tosh Lupoi, who left his role as Oregon's defensive coordinator after three consecutive seasons with a Top 15 defense.

Offense:
Return QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (3,454 passing yards last year as a true freshman)
4-star transfer WR Ian Strong (1,438 yards, 10 TDs in last 2 years for Rutgers)
4-star transfer WR Chase Hendricks (1,037 yards, 7 TDs last year for Ohio)
4-star transfer RB Adam Mohammed (661 total yards and 5 TDs last year for Washington, including 123 yards vs. #5 Oregon)
4-star transfer TE Dorian Thomas (New Mexico)
Return TE Mason Mini who had 445 yards and 5 TDs last year
4-star transfer WR Cooper Perry (Oregon)
Return several players with starting experience on the offensive line
4-star OL recruit Daniel McMorris (No. 1 player in the state of Oklahoma)

Defense:
Returned 3 talented starting defensive backs Cam Sidney, Aiden Manutai, Isaiah Crosby.
4-star transfer DB Daniel Harris (started 12 games during his time at Georgia, including the 2024 SEC Championship and 2024 CFP Sugar Bowl)
4-star transfer DB Kingston Lopa (followed Tosh Lupoi over from Oregon)
4-star transfer DL Jericho Johnson (followed Tosh Lupoi over from Oregon)
Return DL Nate Burrell who started in 2022, 2023, and 2024 before missing all of last season due to injury.
Return experienced DL Stanley Saole-McKenzie and DL Derek Wilkins.
Return LB Aaron Hampton who played in all 13 games last year. He had 15 tackles vs. #15 UVA.
Added former 4-star recruit and Texas A&M transfer Solomon Williams at LB, who played in 12 games for the Aggies last year.

New head coach, Heisman contender at QB, tons of new offensive weapons, 11th-most returning offensive production in the FBS, talented defenders with a defensive-minded HC.

A lot of people may find themselves learning about "Bear Territory" this fall."





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HearstMining
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In reply to Strykur • 1:55p, 7/22/26
Strykur said:
HearstMining said:
calumnus said:
Strykur said:
Adding a bunch of playmakers will make up for OL deficiencies, last year even when he had time JKS only had one WR to consistently throw to plus we had no backfield

Absolutely. Scheme and playcalling can give your OL a big advantage. Remember in 2023 when Ott lead the Pac-12 in rushing and Bearinsider was convinced we finally had a great OL and OL coach? Then Spavital left/was pushed out before the bowl game and then line was suddenly terrible again? And then was terrible the whole next year?

300+ of those Ott yards were in one game (Arizona, I think) and it was a helluva lot of fun to watch, bringing back memories of Muncie, White, Best,etc . Regarding 2024, one guy who wasn't fooled regarding the quality of coaching was Mendoza.

Ott's 300 yard game was against Arizona in 2022 with a bunch of toss sweeps which we never saw in the Spavital playbook (or really ever) after that game

Ooops - you're right. I stand corrected!
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Cal88
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6:28p, 7/28/26
East Coast bias.

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Strykur
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In reply to Cal88 • 7:22p, 7/28/26
Cal88 said:
East Coast bias.

2 years in the conference and we haven't broken above .500 in conference play
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m2bear
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In reply to Strykur • 8:44p, 7/28/26
Strykur said:
Cal88 said:
East Coast bias.

2 years in the conference and we haven't broken above .500 in conference play

Wilcox isn't the coach anymore.

Having Wilcox gone is good for an extra 3 or 4 wins a year and that's on the low end.
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Strykur
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In reply to m2bear • 12:05p, 7/29/26
m2bear said:
Strykur said:
Cal88 said:
East Coast bias.

2 years in the conference and we haven't broken above .500 in conference play

Having Wilcox gone is good for an extra 3 or 4 wins a year and that's on the low end.

Most likely but a rookie head coach is not going to get us any push in preseason rankings
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Cal88
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In reply to Strykur • 1:55p, 7/29/26
Tosh did make a splash that the media types should have noticed.

My guess is that the ACC media has a regional slant, most ACC previews from national sources had us higher than 12 (see above previews).
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sycasey
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6:04p, 7/29/26
Cal hasn't proven anything yet. Can't expect the national media to expect anything better than what we've done recently.
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calumnus
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In reply to sycasey • 6:30p, 7/30/26
sycasey said:
Cal hasn't proven anything yet. Can't expect the national media to expect anything better than what we've done recently.


Exactly, Call it laziness if you want, but the baseline for most national predictions is what everyone did last year. They then focus their attention on changes in the top 20.

However, people are giving us a bump, just not a huge bump. Cal finished #81, #13 in the ACC, in ESPN's "Football Power Index" last year but is starting the season at #62, but that is #14 in the ACC this year. Basically they see the conference getting stronger this year.

A few prognosticators are going out on a limb for us, but that is people trying to make a splash, like people touting dark horse long shots in a horse race or stock pickers giving you penny stocks. They are aiming for clicks, discussion and the possibility of being seen as prescient, but it also reflects taking a deeper look at us than most analysts have.
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cbbass1
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7:20p, 7/30/26
Good W for the Calgorithm!

Nice review of Cal from Alex Donno & Kenton Gibbs from Locked on ACC:

Donno has Cal at #5 in ACC, but says that they could go as high as #2.

Gibbs agrees, & adds that they'll need more depth for consistency & to challenge at the top.

Interviews with both Tosh and JKS!


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sycasey
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7:31p, 7/30/26
JKS making a leap and talking us up the standings is the best argument for Cal to be picked higher. A great QB can make up for a lot.
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Eastern Oregon Bear
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10:34p, 7/30/26
George Wrighster posted his 12 Bold Predictions for the 2026 CFB Season. One of them is that Cal will go 9-3 and finish in the top 25 at the end of the season.

He also has two ACC teams making it to the CFP (Miami and SMU) and that no SEC team will be in the CFP semifinals unless two SEC teams face each other in the quarterfinals.

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