One CBS Sports ‘Expert’ Predicts Cal Will Finish Last in ACC

Virtually no one expects Cal to win the ACC football championship in the Bears’ first year in its new conference, but one CBS Sports “expert” went so far as to predict that the Golden Bears will finish last.

In fact, the eight CBS Sports reporters polled in the site’s report of the most overrated and underrated teams had Cal all over the map in their prediction of the order of finish in the ACC. None had the Bears finishing in the top half of the standings, though, and three had Cal finishing 15th or worse in the 17-team conference.

Not much optimism for Cal is its first season in its new conference.

The report listed five ACC teams as overrated – Clemson, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Duke and Miami – and noted seven ACC teams considered underrated by a member of their expert panel – Cal, Stanford, SMU, Pitt, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech and Miami.

Having Georgia Tech and Miami in both the overrated and underrated groups shows the wide difference of opinions regarding ACC football in 2024.

Here is what the author of the CBS Sports story, Chip Patterson, said about Cal being underrated:

Cal: The Bears were seemingly left for dead last season before winning (and covering) in three straight games to finish the regular season at 6-6. Now, coach Justin Wilcox has all six of his all-conference selections from a year ago, most notably star running back Jaydn Ott, and loads of added experience from a 23-player transfer class that ranked No. 4 in the ACC, per 247Sports. SMU may be catching all the buzz as the newcomer most likely to be a threat in Year 1, but Cal could be a dream killer for a couple of ACC title contenders. – Patterson

All eight CBS Sports experts also projected an order of finish. Four predicted that Miami will win the conference title, three picked Clemson, and one named defending conference champion Florida State as the likely winner.

None of the eight picked Cal to finish higher than ninth. One pegged the Bears for ninth, one had Cal 11th, one projected the Bears to end up 12th, two predicted a 13th-place finish for Cal, two tabbed the Golden Bears for 15th, and one – Dennis Dodd – predicted the Bears would finish 17th, which is dead last.

The main uncertsinty with Cal is the quarterback position. While the ACC boasts a bunch of highly rated quarterbacks this season, the Golden Bears have yet to name their starter at that position. Fernando Mendoza, Chandler Rogers and CJ Harris are vying for the starting job, but none has proven himself as an elite quarterback at the Power Four level.

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