The best online sportsbooks spread favors the California Golden Bears by 7 points over the UCLA Bruins. UCLA and Cal have one thing in common. They are both 0-2 in Pac 12 play. The difference is that while the Bears are 3-2, the Bruins are 0-5. UCLA came close to etching their first win of the season on the books. However, their late come- didn’t go all the way to –back, and they fell 24-31 to N0. 10 Washington Huskies. Still, UCLA gained 422 total yards on Washington. That’s an improvement of almost 100 yards compared to their season average. Of course, there is always the possibility that this was a so-called trap game for Washington. The Huskies may indeed have been looking past the Bruins and into Oregon. UCLA has won five of the last seven meetings in this rivalry.
Betting UCLA
Starting QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson went 27-of-38 passing for 272 yards and two touchdowns against Washington. Meanwhile, running back Joshua Kelley ran for 116 yards and one TD on 27 carries. That was Kelley’s second straight 100-yard rusher. Ha. At least one guy with the last name Kelly is delivering at California-Los Angeles. This QB/RB tandem is the Bruins best hope of covering the online betting sports spread. Especially considering UCLA’s defense has yielded 182 points so far in the season.
“We didn’t high-five in the locker room and say, ‘Hey we got close against a really good team,’ and they are a really good team,” head coach Chip Kelly said of the Washington game. “I’m not a guy that gets solace in, ‘We were close.’ That’s not us. Close isn’t good. Close is bad.” Also, bread good! Fire bad!
Betting California
QB Brandon McIlwain went 32-of-43 for 315 yards in his first start last weekend. Additionally, he ran for another 107 yards. On the other hand, he had four TOs. So that’s something to work on if Cal wants to live up to their best online sportsbooks odds. UCLA’s run defense is terrible. And that’s something the dual-threatening McIlwain could exploit.
UCLA Bruins at California Golden Bears NCAA Football Betting Preview
- Date: October 13
- Time: 4:00 p.m. PT
- Venue: California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, CA
Lines from MyBookie.ag:
- UCLA +7 (-125) 53 (-110) +225
- CALIFORNIA -7 (+105) 53 (-110) -265
UCLA Team Stats
Offense
- 4 points per game (124th)
- 334 total yards per game (117th)
- 4 passing yards per game (100th)
- 6 rushing yards per game (100th)
Defense
- 6 total yards allowed per game (102nd)
- 8 passing yards allowed per game (94th)
- 8 rushing yards allowed per game (94th)
California Team Stats
Offense
- 2 points per game (86th)
- 0 total yards per game (68th)
- 6 passing yards per game (78th)
- 4 rushing yards per game (56th)
Defense
- 4 total yards allowed per game (24th)
- 6 passing yards allowed (18th)
- 8 rushing yards allowed per game (61st)
Betting Trends
- California-Los Angeles is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games
- California-Los Angeles is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games
- California-Los Angeles is 2-7 ATS in its last 9 games on the road
- California is 1-3-1 ATS in its last 5 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 5 of California’s last 7 games
- California is 15-6 SU in its last 21 games at home
So the Bruins came close against Washington. Sadly, close only counts in horseshoes and grenades. To be sure, the Golden Bears will probably lose to the Huskies as well. That doesn’t change the fact that Cal is better than UCLA. Not a whole lot better. Just slightly better. And that should be enough to win and cover the online betting sports spread. The rule of thumb says, take the better team.
