College Football

2024 California football predictions: Ranked No. 68 by RJ Young

Updated Aug. 12, 2024 10:40 a.m. ET

FOX Sports National College Football Analyst

California Golden Bears Ranking: 68/134

[Check out RJ Young's ultimate 134 college football rankings here]

Conference ranking: 11th in ACC (+9000 to win conference)
Teams ahead of them: Jacksonville State (67), Tulane (66), Arkansas State (65), Georgia Southern (64), Baylor (63)
Teams behind them: UNLV (69), South Florida (70), Marshall (71), Minnesota (72), Old Dominion (73)

[California 2024 schedule]

RJ's take: Yeah, it’s weird. It’s weird for Cal to be an ACC team. It’s weird for Cal to play a schedule that starts with UC Davis in Week 1, travels to Auburn and Florida State in September, up to Pittsburgh in October and 2,729 miles across the country to Wake Forest in November — a 40-hour drive across the country on Interstate 40. But that’s what the Golden Bears are gonna do in 2024.

Justin Wilcox will need his defense to travel — understatement of the year — and Jaydn Ott to be the kind of tailback he was last season. Ott rushed for 1,305 yards at 5.3 yards per carry. With games against the aforementioned and SMU and NC State, Cal might have one of the roughest transition years of any new team in a new league this season.

California's Win Total Odds: Over 6 (-105) Under 6 (-115)

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