Oddsmakers Make Cal a Two-Score Favorite Over NC State

Golden Bears have lost three straight close games, but the Wolfpack is stuggling and has a quarerback issue

North Carolina State quarterback CJ Bailey / Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

Cal has lost three close games in a row, but oddsmakers suggest the Golden Bears should end that skid in Saturday's home game against North Carolina State.

Many betting sites have yet to post their opening point spread, but Fan Duel has Cal listed as a 10.5-point favorite against the Wolfpack. Other betting sites have posted a similar point spread. The Action Network noted that the spread on the Cal-NC State game opened at 7.5 points around midnight Saturday night but had expanded to 10.5 points by 1 p.m. Eastern time Sunday afternoon. The spread may change in the coming days, but in any case Cal starts the week as a sizable favorite despite its 3-3 record.

The point spread may come as a surprise considering the Wolfpack was picked to finish fourth in the ACC in the preseason media poll while Cal was pegged for 10th. And both teams are 0-3 in the ACC coming into Saturday's 12:30 p.m. game in Berkeley.

However, Cal has been far more impressive in its losses than NC State.

The Golden Bears have lost their three conference games by a combined margin of eight points, and two of those losses were to teams currently ranked in the top 20. Cal could make a case that it could be 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the ACC based on its opportunities to win all three of those games.

Meanwhile, North Carolina State has played only one ranked ACC team, and the Wolfpack was blown out 59-35 in that game against Clemson. The Wolfpack has lost close games the past two weeks, a 34-30 home loss to Wake Forest, considered one of the weakest ACC teams, and a 24-17 home loss to Syracuse this past weekend.

Now the Wolfpack will travel across the country to Berkeley to play just its second road game of the season, the other being that blowout loss to Clemson.

A bigger issue for North Carolina State is its quarterback situation. No. 1 quarterback Grayson McCall has not been ruled out for the rest of the season, but the hit he took a week ago forced him to the hospital. Freshman C.J. Bailey has started in McCall's place, and it is assumed Bailey will be the starter against Cal. Bailey has completed 66.4% of his passes this season with six touchdowns and four interceptions. Cal, which leads the nation with 13 interceptions, will hope to add a few more picks to Bailey's stat line.

For Cal the chief injury issues involve running back Jaydn Ott and tight end Corey Dyches. Ott, a first-team all-Pac-12 selection last year, has been bothered by a leg injury much of the season and did not play in Cal's 17-15 loss to Pitt on Saturday. He is likely to be questionable again this week for the NC State game. Dyches, who has 11 receptions this season, also missed the Pitt game with an injury.

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