“New” will be the operative word for Cal Athletics this fall as the Golden Bears make the move to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Cal will get to know a whole new set of opponents in most of its sports and travel to locations its teams haven’t typically visited in the past.
The Cal football team opens the season at home against UC Davis on Aug. 31 and plays its first ever ACC game at Florida State on Sept. 21. Its first home ACC game is on Oct. 5 against Miami. The Bears will look to build on last season, when they won their final three regular season games and earned a berth in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana. Cal is led by All-American candidate Jaydn Ott, who led the Pac-12 in rushing last year and is considered one of the top returning running backs in the country.
In addition to UC Davis and Miami, the Bears also welcome San Diego State (Sept. 14), North Carolina State (Oct. 19), Oregon State (Oct. 26), Syracuse (Nov. 16) and Stanford (Nov. 23) for the Big Game at California Memorial Stadium this season.
Both Cal’s men’s and women’s soccer teams will also play in the ultra-competitive ACC starting this fall. The Bears’ men’s soccer team features 2023 Pac-12 Coach of the Year Leonard Griffin. Cal’s volleyball team, under new head coach Jen Malcolm, will look to build on an improved 2023 squad that was led by Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Maggie Li.
Cal’s men’s water polo team will aim to win a fourth consecutive NCAA championship, but it will undoubtedly be more challenging with the departure of superstar Nikolaos Papanikolaou, who won three straight National Player of the Year awards. The Bears will remain playing in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Cal’s field hockey team, which went to the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time since 2006, also moves to the ACC along with the Bears’ cross country team.
Meanwhile, Cal has its usual strong contingent of Olympians heading to Paris for the 2024 Summer Games. There will be 55 current and former athletes, as well as a handful of coaches, representing 11 sports. Cal has captured 223 Olympic medals all-time – the fourth-most of any institution in the nation.