The lead-up to the Week 6, newly founded, ACC matchup between the California Bears and No. 8 Miami Hurricanes as the two teams prepared for a showdown in Berkeley.
With the "Calgorithm" gaining steam on social media alongside various other... campaigns, the Golden Bears received a lot of attention ahead of the matchup against their top-ten opponent, despite sitting at 3-1 overall heading into the game.
Running back Jadyn Ott is the star of Cal's show while quarterback Cam Ward has led the Canes to a perfect start for their season. Surprisingly, the Bears have already defeated Ward in the past when he was playing for Washington State in 2023.
For the first time ever, ESPN College GameDay made the trip to the Bay Area to check out Berkeley's campus and the Cal fans responded accordingly. Signs were creative, signs were hilarious, and signs were (somewhat) politically correct.
I don’t think ESPN was prepared for just how ready Cal fans were to stand somewhere and hold signs https://t.co/jdgoM298NS
— Jay Arnold (@CoachJayArnold) October 5, 2024
The GameDay cast and crew were stunned, and slightly overwhelmed, by just how massive the Cal crowd was as hundreds of people flooded the area around the ESPN stage. Here are some of the best fan signs from Week 6's edition of ESPN College GameDay:
Miami-Cal GameDay sign ✅ pic.twitter.com/Qh7jtxL1AU
— Grant Marek (@Grant_Marek) October 4, 2024
Don't question the math‼️ pic.twitter.com/aRtCGTzYTz
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 5, 2024
never change berkeley pic.twitter.com/CFD4cJ3AaE
— 🅱️EARS 🅱️Y 50 (@BearsBy50) October 5, 2024
The (slightly extreme) differences in cultural atmospheres between the two programs were a common theme to the GameDay signs as Cal fans leaned into their brainiac tendencies.
Some great signs already in Berkeley. #collegegameday pic.twitter.com/FmP6zJwP80
— Michael Collins (@MCFanSided) October 5, 2024
The College GameDay censors are gonna go crazy today bc of all the woke memes in the crowd lol GO BEARS. The pile of banned signs today should get its own museum. #Calgorithm https://t.co/rd5vD9Z13r pic.twitter.com/4CoIXSuZxM
— Michael J. Miraflor (@michaelmiraflor) October 5, 2024
Cal is new to the ACC but it has already fallen into line with all of the other Atlantic Coast Conference teams, despite being across the country, in regards to bashing on Miami. The Canes have been in the conference for two decades yet have the same number of ACC titles as the Bears: zero.
We were told there would be no math 😅 @ESPNImages pic.twitter.com/oNn6bGp1zq
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 5, 2024
Cal College GameDay signs are popping everywhere in Memorial Glade. One hour til the world sees them all. pic.twitter.com/ido1JKeSdC
— Avinash Kunnath (@avinashkunnath) October 5, 2024
And yes, even the California Golden Bear fans couldn't resist the temptation to get a dig in at their rivals, the Stanford Cardinals.
California and Miami are scheduled to kick off at 10:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. PT) on ESPN.