BERKELEY, Calif. — After a long stretch of mediocrity or worse, California has reason for optimism as it enters its first season in the ACC.

The Golden Bears finished their final season in the Pac-12 strong, winning their final three regular season games and making a bowl game for the first time since 2019.

Now coach Justin Wilcox’s team will look to translate that into a season full of changes as Cal leaves its longtime conference home on the West Coast to become part of a conference with schools predominantly located on the East Coast.

“There’s a lot going on,” Wilcox said. “New schedule, new teams and new conference. But at the end of the day, we’re playing the same game. All we can do now is be better tomorrow than we are today.”

The Bears will travel more than 20,000 miles to and from away games this season, resulting in changes such as most trips being made a day earlier and using a larger plane to give players more space.

But Wilcox downplays the impact this will have on his players.

“The most important thing is that we prepare as well as possible so that we can play good football,” he said. “But the trip is no excuse not to play well.”

Cal hopes the conference change will turn things around for a team that has had a losing record in the conference for the past 14 seasons. The Bears last had a winning record in the conference in 2009, when they went 5-4 under coach Jeff Tedford in the old Pac-10, and have had no losing record since that last time, more than any other team in a power conference.

Cal’s late-season push in 2023 was aided by the addition of quarterback Fernando Mendoza to the lineup, who threw 14 touchdown passes in eight starts. However, Mendoza also had 15 turnovers and broke his sternum in a bowl game loss to Texas Tech.

“There’s a lot of optimism on this team,” Mendoza said. “Last year I was a reserve and didn’t have much game experience. This year I’ve played (eight) games.”

In camp, he will be challenged by Chandler Rogers, a transfer from North Texas who threw for 3,382 yards and 29 touchdowns last season, and CJ Harris, a transfer from Ohio.

The Bears’ offense will rely heavily on star running back Jaydn Ott, who led the Pac-12 with 1,315 rushing yards last season and was second with 15 touchdowns. Ott is a threat whenever he touches the ball, having nine career runs of at least 30 yards and five runs of at least 50 yards over the past two seasons.

Wilcox is known as a strong defensive coach, which made last year’s struggles on that side of the ball very concerning. The Bears allowed 32.8 points per game, their worst mark by 4.4 in Wilcox’s seven-year tenure.

They allowed 31 passes of 25 yards or more last season as they struggled to stop the big plays, but they managed 27 turnovers and are helped by linebacker Cade Uluave, who was named Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year.

While moving to the ACC will bring some travel difficulties, the actual competition should be easier than what the Bears faced in their last season in the Pac-12, when they played five of six games against ranked teams within one stretch.

Cal will face only three teams ranked in the preseason poll, with games against No. 19 Miami and No. 24 North Carolina State being home games. The Bears travel to No. 10 Florida State, which is one of three cross-country trips, including a non-conference game at Auburn in Week 2.

The Bears open the season at home against UC Davis on August 31.

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AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football.