As the release date for College Football 25 comes out, I’ve been craving for more and more college football content. So, I’ve decided to predict all of the newcomers to the Power 4 conferences record for this season. Because joining a new conference is always tough, I’m just going to predict the newcomers’ records. I will start with the ACC because they’ve had the least amount of hype around their new conference members, those being Cal, SMU, and Stanford.
I believe Cal, SMU, and Stanford’s records will end up like this:
Cal Golden Bears Schedule:
Week 1: Vs UC Davis – W
Week 2: @ Auburn - L
Week 3: Vs SDSU - W
Week 4: @ Florida State - L
Week 5: Bye
Week 6: Vs Miami (FL) - W
Week 7: @ Pittsburgh - L
Week 8: Vs NC State - L
Week 9: Vs Oregon State - L
Week 10: Bye
Week 11: @ Wake Forest - L
Week 12: Vs Syracuse - W
Week 13: Vs Stanford - W
Week 14: @ SMU – L
SMU Mustangs Schedule:
Week 0: @ Nevada - W
Week 1: Vs Houston Christian - W
Week 2: Vs BYU - W
Week 3: Bye
Week 4: Vs TCU - W
Week 5: Vs Florida State - L
Week 6: @ Louisville - L
Week 7: Bye
Week 8: @ Stanford - W
Week 9: @ Duke - W
Week 10: Vs Pitt - W
Week 11: Bye
Week 12: Vs Boston College - W
Week 13: @ Virginia - L
Week 14: Vs Cal – W
Stanford Cardinal Schedule:
Week 1: Vs TCU - L
Week 2: Vs Cal Poly - W
Week 3: Bye
Week 4: @ Syracuse - L
Week 5: @ Clemson - L
Week 6: Vs Virginia Tech -L
Week 7: @ Notre Dame - L
Week 8: Vs SMU - L
Week 9: Vs Wake Forest - W
Week 10: @ NC State - L
Week 11: Bye
Week 12: Vs Louisville - L
Week 13: @ Cal - L
Week 14: @ SJSU – W
Thoughts on Cal, SMU, and Stanford’s upcoming seasons
Starting with Cal, I think they’ll go 5-7 for a few simple reasons. First, they went 6-7 last season, losing in the Independence Bowl to Texas Tech. Star Running Back Jaydn Ott ran for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns. He ran for 400 less yards than Fernando Mendoza, who was the starting quarterback for most of the season threw for. Ott was practically Cal’s main offense last year as a sophomore. He’s now a junior, and if he wants to make a good impression on NFL scouts, he’s going to want to pop off this season. Mendoza, who shined in Cal’s near upset of USC last season, is also coming back to Cal, if he takes a big step forward, a think a few matchups, specifically those against Wake Forest or SMU can go their way. With Miami and Syracuse coming all the way to the west coast, I think Cal can beat them even if those teams are better. However, I don’t think they can beat NC State at home. Being a West Coast team in an East Coast conference has their strengths, like the ones I just described, but it also has their weaknesses. They have to go to both Florida State and Auburn, which are likely losses for the Golden Bears. UC Davis and SDSU are some clear wins for Cal, and so is the Stanford game. Speaking of Stanford, I have them going 3-9, the same record as 2023. Last season Stanford hit nearly rock bottom, losing to Sacramento State, an FCS team. They did have a crazy comeback win over Colorado, but they couldn’t build on that momentum throughout the rest of the year. I think the same thing happens here. Cal Poly and Sam Jose State are easy wins to highlight, and losses to Clemson, NC State, and Notre Dame are easy losses. Those 3 games are also all on the road for Stanford. There is absolutely no way they win those games. Other road matchups against Syracuse and Cal bring Stanford more losses. I think their games against Virginia Tech and TCU are going to be very similar, in the way that Stanford could stack up, but they fall short. Quarterback Ashton Daniels and Wide Receiver Elic Ayomanor should be a strong duo this season, which leads to interesting games against Wake Forest and Louisville. Stanford will get better this season, but it won’t be reflected in their record. As for the last team to join the ACC this season, SMU, their season will be very similar to 2023. They finished the season ranked 22nd overall, going 11-3, and 8-0 in the American, winning the conference. I’m not saying the SMU will run the table in their first year in the ACC. They had one of the best air attacks last season, and now that Quarterback Preston Stone returning to SMU, I believe the Mustangs can go 9-3, with an easy schedule. They fall to both Louisville and Virginia on the road, the latter being a trap game. Florida State also beats SMU, but that’s not a surprise because Florida State is my winner pick for the ACC. Their first 4 games are easy wins, and so are wins over Stanford, Cal, Boston College, and Duke. The Pitt game could be a little tricky, but SMU survives. With an offense that I think will be top 10 this season and a great defense, SMU will be a real threat in the ACC.
Thanks for reading, and next week I will be back next week doing the same thing, but this time with Big 12’s new teams, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah.