Around the Conference Table: ACC College Football 2026 - Preseason

Welcome back to Season 3 of Cal in the ACC. Let’s take a look at what our neighbors on the East Coast are doing.

Louisville

Nicolas Kranz - We’ll learn how much Louisville’s strong portal class has improved their roster when they play Ole Miss on Sunday this week. If Ohio State transfer QB Lincoln Kienholz can actually produce in his first meaningful action, I like their chances, but that’s a big gamble at the most important position on the field.

Ben - not even papa john will save them

Christopher Helling - A lot of turnover in this squad, and a lot of talent to replace this season. I don’t know the first thing about Ohio State transfer QB Lincoln Kienholz, but at least he’ll still have a strong run game behind him.

Miami

Nicolas Kranz - I know we’re talking about a team that finds a way to lose a dumb game or two every year, but it’s really hard to see how this team, with their talent, loses any game on their schedule other than visits to Clemson and Notre Dame. And even that first game seems like quite a stretch. Meaning the ceiling for Miami is a perfect regular season and the floor is 10-2 and a likely spot in the ACC title game anyway.

Ben - It was heartbreaking to see them appear in the National Championship game this past year and not lose by more.

Ruey Yen - Canes might have gotten lucky to not have to play Cal Bears in the regular season this year.

Christopher Helling - Definitely the team to beat in the ACC. After a Cinderella run in the playoffs last season (despite not appearing in the ACC title game), they upgraded at QB with Darian Mensah and bought a whole lot of talent this off-season.

NC State

Nicolas Kranz - NC State looked like a team that lost two big time WRs in the portal and didn’t have the money to replace them, nor to add in the trenches, leaving behind a team that has CJ Bailey at QB and not a whole lot else.

Ben - Congratulations to 2027 #1 CFL Draft Pick CJ Bailey.

Ruey Yen - NC State looked inept in their opening loss at Virginia. We shall see how much they improve, if at all, by the time Cal visit them in the second half of the season.

Christopher Helling - NCSU has been mired in mediocrity under coach Dave Doeren; just good enough to get you to a bowl game but not much more. I think NCSU is also headed towards a big regression; they retained QB CJ Bailey, but lost pretty much the rest of their skill position players to big name programs. As we saw last year, you can have the best QB in the league, but it doesn’t help all that much if he has no one to throw to.

UNC

Nicolas Kranz - The Tar Heels did slowly get better last year, and it looks like they’ve made more incremental progress, making me think that they’re probably a marginal bowl team this year. I’m also kinda glad Cal doesn’t play them, not because they’re scary but because the pain of potentially losing to them far outweighs the satisfaction or reputational boost of a win.

Ben - I know they just won and vibes are okay but man that shoe is going to fall soon.

Christopher Helling - Another big question mark at QB, so it looks like famed defensive-minded head coach Bill Belichick is going to lean heavily on the defense to win games. Melkart Abou Jaoude is still a force to be reckoned with.

Pitt

Nicolas Kranz - How much better will Mason Heintschel be in year 2, as the unquestioned starter? He’s good enough, and there are enough returners on both sides to make Pitt a bit more intriguing than usual.

Ben - Anyone down to host the Oakland Zoo at the Oakland Zoo, then take them all on a trip to Pittsburg and show them how to spell it correctly?

Christopher Helling - Pitt was one of the teams in the running for the ACC title game, but this is yet another team I see taking a step back this year. Pitt is yet another ACC team that was plundered for resources via the transfer portal. True sophomore Mason Heintschel has a monumental task ahead of him, and he’s going to need to take another leap forward if Pitt is hoping to match last season.

SMU

Nicolas Kranz - Not a ton of roster change on either side of the ball. So: Are they going to be the same team as last year (good, but not so good that they aren’t vulnerable to season-ruining bad losses) or are they going to take a solid step forward and actually make the ACC title game?

Ben - Hoping the kicking woes continue on into 2026 when we play in Dallas.

Ruey Yen - The best team on Cal’s schedule. Kendrick Raphael should have a great season as the new lead back for them after a productive year in Berkeley. I do think Cal has improved in the RB position, but it would be bittersweet to see Raphael do well with another team.

Christopher Helling - QB Kevin Jennings returns for his redshirt senior season, and he’ll have Cal transfer RB Kendrick Raphael behind him. SMU fell a bit in 2025 after winning the ACC in 2024, and I’d say it was largely due to the health of Jennings. If he can stay healthy and retain his mobility, they’ll be more 2024 this season than 2025. If he continues to struggle with ankle issues that limit his ability to run the ball, I think they’ll look a bit more mortal.

Stanford

Nicolas Kranz - I was firmly riding the ‘Davis Warren will be awful’ train, but he looked good enough against (a very depleted, not good) Hawaii’s defense that I’m open to evidence that I’m wrong. I will say this much: while I didn’t see anything against Hawaii that makes me think Stanford will be *good*, it also didn’t look like the least talented roster in the conference, which was one possibility this season.

Ben - Spending like 15 months finding a new coach only to wind up with the coach everyone said you take on the day you fire Troy Taylor is such a Stanford move. No notes.

Ruey Yen - I might start to feel bad about the state of Stanford Football in the modern NIL landscape by the end of this season, but I will enjoy “Schaden-Furd” for now.

Christopher Helling - No idea what to expect from Michigan transfer QB Davis Warren, but Tavita Pritchard is probably the most lukewarm coaching hire they could have made. I expect more of the same out of Stanford.

Syracuse

Nicolas Kranz - The primary question: how much was Syracuse’s 2025 collapse solely because of Steve Angeli’s early season-ending injury, and how much was caused by other issues on the roster? If Angeli’s return is all they need to bounce back to 2024 form, then any team headed to the Carrier Dome (gulp) will have their hands full.

Ben - Excited to see if they continue to use the Zone Defense that has troubled many offenses.

Ruey Yen - Bears need to avenge the 2024 loss at home to the Orange. Syracuse did have a good start in 2025 before losing 8 straight. I am cautiously optimistic that the Bears can win in upstate New York.

Christopher Helling - After opening the season 3-1 last year with ND transfer QB Steve Angeli, he went down with a season-ending injury, and Syracuse went 0-8 the rest of the way. Angeli is a good a quarterback (and Kennesaw State transfer QB Amari Odom is a better backup than last year’s QB), but it will be hard to see what Syracuse is made of until their week 2 game against Cal. They have question marks at RB/WR, and I’m not sold on their defense, but they might have an offense strong enough to carry them anyway.

Virginia

Nicolas Kranz - I was really impressed by what UVA showed against NC State in week zero, dominating in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Presumably other teams will force Virginia and Pribula into more passing situations and I’m not sure how successful that will go for the Cavs, but their schedule is VERY kind and they will be solid favorites in every game until a mid-October trip to SMU.

Ben - Feels like a conference dark horse that will get pushed out over a silly October loss involving Cal again.

Ruey Yen - Virginia had an impressive week 0 home win over NC State, sealing the game with a 12+ minute drive.

Christopher Helling - I think Pitt transfer QB Eli Holstein is a good QB, and he’s listed as the backup to Mizzou transfer QB Beau Pribula (who I’ve never seen play before). They’re one of the few ACC teams that retained most of their talent and added to it (along with e.g. SMU, Miami, Cal), so last year’s ACC runners-up are probably going to again be a formidable squad.

Virginia Tech

Nicolas Kranz - I suspect that James Franklin will quickly upgrade Tech’s talent, so I’m glad that Cal 1) gets the Hokies relatively early this year and 2) isn’t currently scheduled to play them again until 2030.

Ben - Excited to see what James Franklin can do with less resources and prestige.

Ruey Yen -James Franklin will make the Hokies better, but I suspect it will take a couple of years. For 2026, they are in the Cal (and UCLA) category of good unknowns.

Christopher Helling - I’m just glad Kyron Drones can’t hurt us anymore. I am again not familiar with their transfer QB (Penn State transfer Ethan Grunkemeyer) or many of the players they added via the transfer portal, so this whole team is a question mark to me.

Wake Forest

Nicolas Kranz - An easy pick for ACC-ugly-team-of-the-year. In 2025, they were all defense, no offense, and the off-season saw them retain most of their defensive talent and lose some of their offensive talent. Prepare for slogs.

Ben - Still dont think this is a real place.

Christopher Helling - I like Jake Dickert as a coach, but they’ll be starting UNC transfer QB Gio Lopez, and he’ll be behind a rebuilt offensive line with new receivers (transfer portal decimated these groups for WF). I think “middle of the pack” is the best WF can hope for.