Cal was picked to finish 12th.in the ACC in the conference's 2026 preseason media poll released on Tuesday, but that does not tell the whole story of the Golden Bears' preseason outlook. The expectations for the teams Cal will face are also part of the equation.Cal will not face Miami, which was nearly a unanimous pick to win the ACC, or Louisville, which is third in the preseason ACC poll. But the Bears will play six teams picked to finish in the top nine in the ACC standings, and they have a nonconference game against a team picked to win the Mountain West Conference.The Golden Bears were picked to finish 15th in last season's preseason ACC poll and wound up tied for seventh with a 4-4 conference record and a 7-6 overall mark. Preseason 2026 ACC predictions from college football sites were all over the map regarding Cal's expected finish.We lay out where each of Cal's 12 opponents for 2026 were picked in their preseason conference polls:UCLA at Cal, Friday, September 5UCLA was picked to finish 13th among 18 teams in the unofficial preseason Big Ten media poll. Ohio State, Oregon and Indiana are the top three in the unofficial Big Ten poll of 31 media members compiled by cleveland.com. (The Big Ten no longer has an official preseason media poll.) The Bruins are behind No. 10 Minnesota, No. 11 Minnesota and No. 12 Nebraska. Northwestern, Maryland, Michigan State, Rutgers and Purdue are the teams picked to finish behind the Bruins, who last year went 3-9, including 3-6 in the Big Ten, but have a new head coach in Bob Chesney. This will be Cal's first game since 2023 against its University of California rival.Cal at Syracuse, Saturday, September 12Syracuse is picked to finish 14th in the 17-team ACC.That pick suggests the Bears have a good chance to win this ACC opener against the Orange even though it will be played nearly 2,500 miles from Berkeley. Cal did not play Syracuse last year, when the Orange went 3-9, including 1-7 in the ACC, but Syracuse beat Cal 33-25 in Berkeley in 2024.Wagner at Cal, Saturday, September 19Wagner was picked to finish fifth in the coaches preseason Northeast Conference poll.Central Connecticut, Duquesne, Robert Morris and Long Island University were picked to finish ahead of Wagner in the NEC, an FCS conference, while Saint Francis, Mercyhurst and Stonehill are picked to finish behind the Seahawks. Wagner went 5-7 last season, including 4-3 in the conference. In its two games against FBS teams, Wagner lost to Kansas 46-7 and to Central Michigan 49-10. Obviously Cal should win this game handily.Clemson at Cal, Friday, September 25Clemson is picked to finish fourth in the ACC poll.Clemson was picked to win the ACC last year, but the Tigers wound up in a five-way tie for seventh place and had the identical overall and conference records as Cal -- 7-6 and 4-4. This will be Cal's first game against Clemson since joining the ACC, but it could be pivotal. The only previous time the teams met was in the 1992 Citrus Bowl (1991 season), when Cal beat the Tigers 37-13 in Orlando, Florida.Cal at UNLV, Saturday, October 3UNLV is the favorite to win the Mountain West Conference, according to FanDuel.The Mountain West has not offered an official media or coaches preseason poll, but UNLV and New Mexico are considered the best two teams by virtually everyone, and UNLV is the betting favorite to win the conference title. The departure of Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State to the Pac-12 weakens the Mountain West, but being picked to win a conference that includes New Mexico, former FCS power North Dakota State and Hawaii is still impressive. Last year, UNLV went 10-4 overall and 6-2 in the conference, finishing in a four-way tie for first place before losing to Boise State in the conference championship game. Cal lost to the Rebels 24-13 in the 2024 LA Bowl.Virginia Tech at Cal, Saturday, October 10Virginia Tech is picked to finish eighth in the ACC.Cal lost to Virginia Tech 42-34 in double overtime last season, when the Hokies wound up 3-9 overall and 2-6 in the ACC. The addition of James Franklin as the Hokies new head coach this season no doubt has something to do with Virginia Tech's high place in the ACC preseason poll.Wake Forest at Cal, Saturday, October 17Wake Forest is picked to wind up 13th in the ACC pollPicked to finish 16th last year, Wake Forest surprised everyone by finishing 9-4 overall, including 4-4 in the ACC, in Jake Dickert's first season as head coach. Wake Forest handed Virginia its only regular-season ACC loss and gave SMU one of its two conference defeats. Cal did not play Wake Forest in 2025, but the Bears beat the Demon Deacons 48-38 in 2024 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.Cal at SMU, Saturday, October 24SMU is picked to finish second in the ACC in the media pollCal prevented SMU from playing in the ACC championship game last year when the Bears upset the Mustangs 38-35 in the final regular-season game. SMU wound up 9-4 overall and 6-2 in the conference, including an overtime victory over Miami. SMU is 17-2 at home over the past three seasons and will probably be the best team Cal faces in 2026.Cal at North Carolina State, Saturday, October 31North Carolina State is picked to wind up seventh in the ACC.The Wolfpack was one of five teams, along with Cal, that went 4-4 in the ACC last year. NC State finished 8-5 overall in 2025, when it beat Georgia Tech and Virginia, although the Virginia game was a weird nonconference contest. Cal did not play the Wolfpack last year and lost to NC State 24-23 in 2024.Cal at Virginia, Saturday, November 14Virginia is picked to finish sixth in the ACC poll.Virginia was the surprise team of the ACC last year, when it was picked to finish 14th but wound up with the best conference record in the ACC. Cal lost to Virginia 31-21 in Berkeley last year as the Cavaliers finished with an 11-3 overall record and 7-1 in the ACC before losing to Duke in the ACC title game. The Cavaliers won three regular-season games that went to overtime and won another game decided by two points.Stanford at Cal. Saturday, November 21Stanford has been picked to finish last in the 17-team ACCStanford was also picked to finish last in 2025 and wound up 4-8 overall and 3-5 in the ACC, including a 31-10 victory over Cal, which led to the firing of Justin Wilcox a day later. That was the Cardinal's only win in its final five games. Stanford has a new head coach -- Tavita Pritchard. Stanford received one first-place vote in this year's preseason ACC poll, and we would love to know who cast that vote.Pitt at Cal, Saturday, November 28Pitt is picked to finish ninth in the ACC media pollThe game against Pittsburgh was added to Cal's 2026 schedule when the ACC decided to increase the number conference game from eight to nine (although not all ACC teams are playing nine conference games in 2026). Cal had to drop a nonconference game against BYU to fit Pitt in. Cal did not face Pitt last year and lost to the Panthers 17-15 in Pittsburgh in 2024. Pitt finished the 2025 season with an 8-5 mark and went 6-2 in the conference, tied for second place. However, the Panthers lost a tiebreaker to determine the second team in the ACC championship game.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow