Cal to Face AP Top-25 Teams in its First Two Games in the ACC

The Golden Bears will travel to No. 10 Florida State on Sept. 21, then host No. 19 Miami on Oct. 5

Florida State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei / Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports

Cal football will face teams ranked in the preseason AP Top-25 poll in its first two Atlantic Coast Conference games.

Four ACC teams landed spots in the AP rankings, including No. 10 Florida State, whom the Bears visit on Sept. 21, and No. 19 Miami, which will come to Berkeley on Oct. 5.

In both games, the Bears will face quarterbacks they know from the Pac-12 Conference. FSU's DJ Uiagalelei transferred from Oregon State, where he totaled 2,638 passing yards and 21 touchdowns after three seasons at Clemson. Miami's Cam Ward passed for 6,968 yards and 48 TDs in two seasons at Washington State before transferring,

Cal plays one of the other two ACC teams in the AP poll when it takes on No. 24 North Carolina State in Berkeley on Oct. 19.

The final ACC team to earn a place in the AP rankings is Clemson, which checks in at No. 14.

That NC State game ends a daunting seven-game stretch to open the season for the Bears. They also have non-conference games Sept. 7 at Auburn and Sept. 14 at home vs. San Diego State and an Oct. 12 game at Pitt. Cal opens its season on Aug. 31 at home vs. UC Davis.

Given the challenge facing Cal in games vs. Auburn, FSU and Miami — the first two on the road — a 4-3 record through the first seven games would seem to constitute a successful start to the season.

The final five regular-season games are a little less scary: a non-conference home game vs. Oregon State on Oct. 26, an ACC road matchup vs. Wake Forest, back-to-back home dates vs. Syracuse and Stanford on Nov. 16 and 23, and a Nov. 30 trip to SMU, which was pegged No. 7 in the preseason ACC media poll.

Four former Pac-12 Conference teams also received nods from the AP voters. Oregon, now playing in the Big Ten Conference, is No. 3, trailing top-ranked Georgia and No. 2 Ohio State.

Utah, which has moved to the Big 12, is No. 12 and Arizona, also a Big 12 member is set at No. 21. USC, which joins Oregon in the Big Ten, is ranked 23rd.

The AP writers poll and the AFCA coaches poll, which was released last week, are nearly mirrors images. Among the top-10, the only difference is where the AP’s No. 8 Penn State and No. 9 Michigan are flip-flopped in the coaches’ rankings.