Cal Football: Bears Get Votes in Last AP Top-25 Poll Before Opener

Cal would be ranked 43rd in Sunday's Associated Press media rankings ahead of Bears' Nov. 7 home game against Washington

Cal is not ranked among the Associated Press top-25 rankings released Sunday, but the Bears did receive three voting points.

Those three voting points would place the Bears at No. 43 in the country heading into Saturday's 7:30 p.m. season-opening game against Washington in Berkeley.

The Huskies received 21 voting points, which would put Washington at No. 35 in the rankings.

Cal did not receive any votes in the first four weeks that the AP poll included Pac-12 teams in the voting following the Pac-12 decision to play games this season. That started with the Sept. 20 poll and the three weeks that followed.

Last week, however, the Bears received four voting points, which would have put Cal 40th in the rankings. Washington received 15 voting points last week, which would place the Huskies 36th in the country.

The Bears were picked to finish second in the Pac-12 North in the preseason media poll, while Washington was picked to finish third. Oregon was named the favorite to win the North as well as the Pac-12 title in that poll.

The Ducks are ranked 12th in this week's AP poll, while USC is the other Pac-12 team in the top 25, coming in at No. 20. Utah (44 points) and Arizona State (7 points) are the other Pac-12 teams that received voting points.

It means Cal is the sixth-highest-ranked Pac-12 team in this week's AP rankings.

The top of the top-25 did not change much.

Clemson, which survived a scare against Boston College on Saturday while Tigers' quarterback Trevor Lawrence was sidelined following a positive COVID-19 test, remained No. 1.

Alabama, which shut out Mississippi State, is still No. 2, and Ohio State, which knocked off Penn State, is No 3.

.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.