Lindy's Magazine Picks Cal to Finish Last in ACC

A few days ago we noted that the Athlon college football preview magazine was not optimistic about Cal’s 2025 season. Well, Lindy’s preseason college football guide has an even worse prediction for the Bears’ 2025 season.

Both magazines’ assessment of Cal’s 2025 season is based largely on the Bears’ significant losses through the transfer portal, and Lindy’s listed Cal among the “losers” in the offseason transfer competition.  Cal will have a dramatically different roster in 2025 from last season when the Bears went 6-7 and played in a bowl game.

If nothing else Cal will have plenty of motivation to prove the experts wrong. Last year's Big 12 and ACC preseason polls demonstrated how wrong those predictions can be, as we will show at the end of this report.

Lindy’s ranks Cal as the nation’s No. 100 team overall heading into the 2025 season, below the likes of Texas State, Miami of Ohio, Louisiana, North Texas, and, worst of all, behind Stanford, which comes in at No. 90.

Lindy’s one-line comment about Cal in that segment is an enigma: “Were the dozens of transfers sorta canaries in Berkeley coal mine?”

Huh?

A canary in a coal mine has come mean an early warning sign of danger, but applying that to a football team’s potential is . . . well, it’s odd.

The Athlon preseason guide picked Cal to finish 15th in the 17-team ACC, but Lindy’s predicts Cal will finish last in the conference, just behind Stanford.  Its one-line description of the Bears in this section says, “Justin Wilcox can play up the ‘why not us’ mantra since expectations are extremely low.”

Under “Primary Strengths” Lindy’s says this: “Cal’s defense is loaded with returning talent, and the newcomers should provide instant impact. The front seven should be especially strong.”

Under “Potential Problems” Lindy’s says, “The stunning wave of departures on offense creates more than a little uncertainty.”

Lindy’s cites linebacker Buom Jock as Cal’s top newcomer, with this description: “An All-Mountain West selection at Colorado State, Jock’s height at 6-4 give Cal a rangy threat with the athleticism and the ability to rush the quarterback or drop back into coverage.”

Lindy’s final Overview: “Cal’s debut season in the odd fit of the ACC resulted in middling results. The defense is good enough to ensure Cal remains competitive but getting to a third consecutive bowl seems like a stretch.”

But Cal need only look at last year’s Big 12 and ACC preseason polls to find examples of predictions that were drastically wrong. 

Arizona State was picked to finish dead last in the 16-team Big 12 in 2024, and the Sun Devils wound up winning the conference title and playing in the College Football Playoff. Utah was picked to finish first and the Utes ended up with a 2-7 conference record, while Oklahoma State, picked to come in third, was 0-9 in Big 12 play.

Florida State was the preseason favorite in the ACC, and the Seminoles wound up last in the 17-team conference. SMU was picked to finish seventh and finished with the best record in ACC regular-season play at 8-0.

Recent articles:

Top-50 Cal Pos: No. 44 Max Homa

Cal lands another O-lineman commit and its 2026 recruiting class continues to rise

Cal promises to support athletes after House Settlement

Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 45 Bryan Anger

Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 46 Charles Johnson

Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 47 Taylor Douthit