One Pac-4 Team in AP Top 25, Five from Pac-12 Ranked
The Associated Press preseason media poll was released Monday, and four of the five Pac-12 teams ranked in the top 25 won't be in the Pac-12 a year from now.
The one ranked team that is still scheduled to be in the Pac-12 next year, but is looking for another conference home, is Oregon State, which is ranked No. 18 in the preseason poll. The three other Pac-12 schools without a conference destination for 2024 -- Cal, Stanford and Washington State -- are unranked and were not among the 49 teams that received votes.
The Beavers have established a reputation under head coach Jonathan Smith. They finished last season 14th in the final College Football Playoff rankings, and No. 17 in the last AP poll, and they are expected to have similar success this season. But will this be their final season in the Pac-12, which will need to rebuild itself with the addition of members to exist, or will the Beavers be playing elsewhere?
The other four Pac-12 teams ranked in the preseason AP poll all know what their conference will be next year, and it's not the Pac-12.
USC, the highest ranked Pac-12 team at No. 6, as well as No. 10 Washington and No. 15 Oregon will be Big Ten schools a year from now, while No. 14 Utah will be a member of the Big 12 next season.
So the 2023 season could be the last season Cal and Stanford will face those four powerhouse football programs.
Cal is the only team that faces all five of the ranked Pac-12 teams this season, and the Bears play four of them in consecutive games.
The Bears meet No. 10 Washington on September 23 in Seattle, and after the following week's against Arizona State, the meat-grinder section of the Cal schedule begins.
Cal faces No. 18 Oregon State on October 7 in Berkeley, and No. 14 Utah in Salt Lake City on October 14. After a bye, the Bears face No. 6 USC on October 28 in Berkeley, then faces No. 15 Oregon the next week in Eugene.
The two Pac-12 teams Cal does not face this season -- Arizona and Colorado -- are unranked and are not even among the 49 schools that received votes in the AP poll.
Cal faces all five of the ranked Pac-12 teams, and no other conference teams plays more than four ranked conference foes. Washington State and UCLA play only three ranked conference opponents apiece.
So the final Pac-12 schedule does not favor the Bears, who still has not determined who their starting quarterback will be.
Cover photo of Jonathan Smith by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports
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