Cal Football

California Football Announces 2027 Conference Opponents

Three Teams Set To Make First Trip To Berkeley
By Cal Athletics
September 16, 2026
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12 Comments
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Photo by Catharyn Hayne / KLC fotos

California Football Announces 2027 Conference Opponents
Three Teams Set To Make First Trip To Berkeley

Cal fans now know which nine Atlantic Coast Conference football teams the Bears will face next season after the ACC revealed its 2027 conference schedule Wednesday.

Next season will mark the second one in which most ACC teams will play nine conference games. The Bears will meet Boston College, Florida State, Louisville and SMU at California Memorial Stadium.

Cal’s conference road games will take place at Georgia Tech, Miami, Pitt, Stanford and Wake Forest. The matchup with the Yellow Jackets will be the teams’ first as conference foes and will mean that the Bears have faced all the other 16 ACC football teams since Cal joined the conference in 2024.

Some notes about how Cal has fared against the four ACC teams coming to Berkeley in 2027:

Boston College

The series is tied 1-1, with the Bears earning a 28-24 win in Chestnut Hill last season. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele’s 51-yard touchdown pass to Mason Mini with 1:30 left was the game-winner.  Next season marks the Eagles’ first visit to Memorial Stadium.

Florida State

The Seminoles also will be making their first appearance in Berkeley. In the lone previous matchup between the teams, FSU pulled out a 14-9 victory in 2024.

Louisville

The Cardinals will join the Eagles and Seminoles as first-time visitors to Strawberry Canyon. Cal prevailed in the only meeting between the schools in a 29-26 overtime decision at Louisville last season. Sagapolutele’s 3-yard TD pass to Jacob De Jesus on 4th-and-goal in the extra period gave the Bears the victory.

SMU

The Mustangs lead the series 2-1, but the Bears grabbed a 38-35 win over SMU at California Memorial Stadium in the regular-season finale last year. Sagapolutele threw for 330 yards and four scores. The teams meet this season in Dallas on Oct. 24. 

The dates and times of next season’s conference games will be announced later. Cal’s three 2027 nonconference games are against Sacramento State (Aug. 28), at UCLA (Sept. 4) and against Old Dominion (Sept. 11).

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California Football Announces 2027 Conference Opponents

3,641 Views | 12 Replies | Last: 20 days ago by MrGPAC
nikeykid
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1:58p, 9/16/26
when is it our turn to play ND (if ever?)
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BearSD
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In reply to nikeykid • 2:06p, 9/16/26
nikeykid said:
when is it our turn to play ND (if ever?)

Notre Dame is probably never going to play a football game at Cal.

Looks like Notre Dame has scheduled its annual required number of ACC opponents every year through 2037: https://fbschedules.com/ncaa/notre-dame/

The only way SMU got a game with Notre Dame was by agreeing to play at Notre Dame this year with ND never scheduled to play SMU in Dallas.
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nikeykid
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2:18p, 9/16/26
so you are saying we have a chance in 2038....
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Cal88
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4:17p, 9/16/26
It's a pretty tough slate as the ACC goes, we get all the top programs minus Clemson. It sets up an easy conference slate for 28 in all likelihood.
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Rushinbear
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7:43a, 9/17/26
Ouch.
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Cal88
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8:35a, 9/17/26
On the plus side, we should have Florida St and GT at home, boosting the home slate, in a season where both the Big Game and UCLA are on the road.
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MrGPAC
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In reply to Cal88 • 2:11p, 9/17/26
Cal88 said:
On the plus side, we should have Florida St and GT at home, boosting the home slate, in a season where both the Big Game and UCLA are on the road.

I didn't realize we set it up for both UCLA and Stanford to be in sync for home/away. Ideally we'd get at least one of the two California rivals at home every year.

It looks like UCLA is already set up well. Cal on the road this year, USC at home this year.

Cal and Stanford both have double dipping going on though. Cal has UCLA at home and Stanford at home this year. Stanford has Notre Dame on the road and Cal on the road this year.

Seems like a mutual agreement could be made between Stanford and Cal to meet up at a neutral site one year which would be beneficial to balancing both teams schedules...I don't know how likely that is to come to fruition though.
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Cal88
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2:48p, 9/17/26
It might be better to just flip the UCLA home and road engagements for 28 and 29, playing 2 consecutive road games in 27 and 28 followed by a home game in 29, then alternating home and away games thereafter, instead of breaking the 122 year old alternating Big Game tradition.
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MrGPAC
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In reply to Cal88 • 2:50p, 9/17/26
Cal88 said:
It might be better to just flip the UCLA home and road engagements for 28 and 29, playing 2 consecutive road games in 27 and 28 followed by a home game in 29, then alternating home and away games thereafter, instead of breaking the 122 year old alternating Big Game tradition.

UCLA wouldn't want to do that though. They already alternate with USC which is better for them....
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smh
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2:57p, 9/17/26
we should live so long
# if
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BearSD
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In reply to MrGPAC • 3:33p, 9/17/26
MrGPAC said:

Seems like a mutual agreement could be made between Stanford and Cal to meet up at a neutral site one year which would be beneficial to balancing both teams schedules...I don't know how likely that is to come to fruition though.

IIRC it was proposed several years ago that the Big Game be played once at the 49ers stadium in Santa Clara for that reason. Neither team wanted to do that.
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MrGPAC
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In reply to BearSD • 3:54p, 9/17/26
BearSD said:
MrGPAC said:

Seems like a mutual agreement could be made between Stanford and Cal to meet up at a neutral site one year which would be beneficial to balancing both teams schedules...I don't know how likely that is to come to fruition though.

IIRC it was proposed several years ago that the Big Game be played once at the 49ers stadium in Santa Clara for that reason. Neither team wanted to do that.


Yeah, the idea isn't original to me...just adapted for the new scheduling reality now that the Pac is gone but the UCLA rivalry is reborn.

Cal's leadership is certainly very different from when it was last proposed. I wonder if their view point has changed.

Or what Stanford's would be given how much the dynamic has changed, and how few true rivals either school has anymore. The even/odd years have just become far more lopsided with the conference changes.
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