Cal football futures set at 50 to 1 odds to win the ACC

Vegas doesn't quite believe in the chances of the California Golden Bears to break through to an ACC title at this time.

Photo by mana5280 on Unsplash

The California Golden Bears might have an easier schedule ahead of them compared to previous Pac-12 seasons in their inaugural ACC campaign, but that doesn’t mean the sportsbooks have predicted Cal too be a conference contender. The Bears have been placed around the lower middle of the conference, behind surprising names.

Here are the current ACC champion odds, according to BetOnline.

• Clemson +250 ($100 to win $250)

• Florida State +250

• Miami +500

• Louisville +550

• NC State +1100

• Virginia Tech +1100

• North Carolina +2200

• SMU +2200

• Syracuse +3300

• Cal +5000

• Georgia Tech +5500

• Boston College +7500

• Duke +10000

• Pitt +12500

• Virginia +12500

• Wake Forest +25000

• Stanford +50000

Some of these odds aren’t surprising. Despite some significant roster overhauls, Clemson (with a lot of new faces on defense) and Florida State (with Oregon State QB transfer D.J. Uiagalelei helming a new-look squad) will be the favorites to win this conference until the next phase of realignment. Miami has underachieved under Mario Cristobal, but they are extremely talented and will have Wazzu transfer Cam Ward leading them. Louisville snuck their way into the ACC title game last year and will have most of their fierce defense returning.

In the second tier of sleepers, NC State is always lurking, although they have yet to put a complete season together. Virginia Tech is returning nearly their entire team (including their whole offense) and came on strong to finish the season. North Carolina being given the same odds as SMU is a bit strange, but the Tar Heels have been somewhat middling as of late underneath snake oil salesman head coach Mack Brown’s reign.

SMU had a great season last year, but it’s odd to see them this far ahead of a Boston College squad that stonewalled them in the Fenway Bowl a few months ago. The big surprise is Syracuse—they have had a nice portal class to upgrade their portal, but these odds seem heavily tilted toward Kyle McCord hopium.

At the moment, Cal being situated along with a program like Georgia Tech feels about right. The Bears have a lot to prove to show they. are capable of moving past an eight win plateau, and simply running back many of the key cogs that rolled off six wins last year against mostly losing teams isn’t really moving the needle.

Cal does have three gimmee games in Wake Forest, Stanford and Pitt, and two toss-up games in SMU and Syracuse. Seeing the Bears beating two of three of Miami, Florida State and NC State would be an immense accomplishment that Justin Wilcox has so few of in his tenure as Cal’s leader.

A big opportunity awaits.