Report: Cal, Florida call off 2-game non-conference series for 2026-27
Florida and Cal have cancelled a planned home-and-home series scheduled for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, according to Action Network’s Brett McMurphy. The news comes on the heels of Cal shuffling around some other games on future schedules.
With the Pac-12 melting down and the various teams from the league scattered across new leagues — namely the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC — Cal added a series against another school in the UC System: UCLA.
Normally conference rivals, the series will be held as a non-conference matchup between the now-ACC and Big Ten teams, respectively, starting in 2026. It’s reportedly a four-game series between the Bruins and Golden Bears.
It’s unclear if Florida has secured a new opponent for 2026 and 2027. It’s also possible the SEC will move to nine conference games and the Gators will not need to fill the open date.
More schedules got shuffled this week
UCLA will reportedly drop Georgia and Auburn from future football schedules, according to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times.
With those two schools off the board, income Utah and Cal. UCLA already scheduled a home-and-home with the Utes for 2025 and ’30 earlier Wednesday.
UCLA will play Utah at the Rose Bowl in 2025 and will take on Cal in four future seasons, beginning in 2026, per the report.
UCLA and Cal will square off in 2026 and ’28 at Memorial Stadium and at the Rose Bowl in 2027 and ’29.
UCLA currently leads the all-time series against Utah 12-9, but the Utes have had more recent success.
Utah has won six of the last seven meetings in the series dating back to 2016, with the two teams meeting fairly regularly in the old Pac-12. UCLA’s lone win in that span came in 2022, a 42-32 win in Pasadena.
Of course, when the two teams meet in 2025 they’ll both be in new conferences. UCLA departed for the Big Ten in 2024, while Utah will be spending its first year in the Big 12 this fall.
The Gators’ 2024 schedule is a brutal one
The SEC, like most other conferences in college football, will look a little bit different this year. The league is headlined by Texas and Oklahoma joining the league and getting rid of divisions, thus increasing the competitiveness of arguably the most competitive conference in college football.
The new-look SEC comes with new-look schedules for all of its teams, which are not all created equal with the confines of divisions no longer existing. With that in mind, On3’s Andy Staples reveals which SEC program he believes was dealt the toughest hand heading into a hallmark 2024 season.
“The most brutal schedule handed out by the SEC, well that goes to the Florida Gators,” Staples said.
“Now, Florida does not help itself by having Miami and UCF in addition to its annual game against Florida State on this year’s schedule. But listen to these final four SEC games, listen to this. Georgia in Jacksonville, Texas in Austin, and then you’re back home but you play LSU at Ole Miss,” Staples explained. “And then after that, because it’s an even-numbered year, the Gators go to Tallahassee where they have to play a Florida State team that won 13 games last year, won the ACC, and is probably going to be really good again this year.”