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California Football Predictions for 2024: California Golden Bears Football Total Wins Picks, Best Bets & Games To Watch

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Expert college football handicapper Ron Marmalefsky looks at California college football and its chances in 2024. Ron provides expert picks for betting on the Golden Bears in 2024.

Ron also offers total win predictions for California in 2024 (a great betting NCAAF betting future), areas to watch, favorability of schedule, and offers best bets tips on the California Golden Bears.

WagerTalk, the home of expert sports picks and the legendary GoldSheet, offers free college football best bets and free NCAAF picks daily, as well as premium expert NCAAF betting picks at amazing prices. And, don’t forget, at WagerTalk you can always find the NFL best bets today updated constantly.

Grab the GoldSheet 2024-2025 Betting Guide

In a partnership with WagerTalk’s Ralph Michaels, the GoldSheet team has compiled a 60-page college football betting guide to help you prepare for the 2024-25 season.

Available free of charge, this preseason guide features our summer power ratings, projected point spreads and win probabilities for EVERY game of the upcoming season, plus coaching changes, quarterback transfers and much more. 

California Bears College Football 2024 Preview: What’s the Situation?

Justin Wilcox is 36-43 over seven seasons.  Here we go, handicapping a west coast team playing in the ACC.

2024 California NCAAF AREAS TO WATCH:

QB Mendoza had an acceptable debut, but faces competition from former North Texas QB Chandler Rogers, who had a more than solid stat sheet. 

The good news is that the competition should be good for the team.  The bad news is they lost their one-year offensive coordinator, who was the SOLE reason I went OVER Cal’s 4.5 and 5 season win total of a year ago.  RB Ott returns, and he has NFL talent. 

The offense should be solid, but I’ll chart things in September, just in case.  I see pretty much the same performance defensively in ’24.  There’s decent returning talent, and the staff is one of the better ones for this side of the ball. 

The pass D% should improve, considering they won’t be facing three 1st round draft choices (Nix, Penix, Calub Williams), plus accurate Ward from WSU.  Wilcox had a few concerns about the DL, so I’ll chart that area carefully.  Much traveled PK Ryan Coe should win the kicking job.  This has been a sore spot for the Bears in most recent times. 


California Golden Bears Football 2024 Predicted Total Wins Prediction

7-5 (win grid at 6.2).  Cal was just 31-54 SU in PAC 12 play over the past ten years, and 40-81 the past 14 years.  Wilcox is 29-14 ATS as an underdog, but that still hasn’t translated to PAC 12 success, as they went 21-37 SU under his tenure. 

Maybe he does better here with the demise of the PAC 12.  Even a 4-4 conference record would be their best since ’09.

College Football Week 0 Betting Picks & Predictions

2024 College Football Week 0 and 1 Picks, Predictions and Betting Previews

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California 2024 football predictions

2024 California Football Schedule and Games to Watch

Cal opens with 7-4 UC Davis and then travels to Auburn.  The Bears dominated the Tigers last year but found a way to lose the game thanks to inept kicking and a key red zone interception (Auburn won the game on a short drive, following a fumble). 

Can they extract revenge at their place?  Cal’s other four road games include three on the east coast, and one at SMU.  There are no back-to-back road trips.  They host Miami with 14 days to prepare.  That might be the most interesting game on the schedule. 

The goal is a split at Pittsburgh and home to NC St.  Anything less may mean that the new offensive coordinator is not up to par, and/or the DL is having issues.  Games 8-11 are home to OSU, at Wake, and home to Syracuse and Stanford. 

While hardly a guarantee (the visitor is 24-8 ATS in games vs. Stanford for example), Cal may be favored in all four!  Wilcox has a clear below average record vs. the spread when favored, but shouldn’t this be at least 3-1 SU?  Cal closes at SMU, and I have exactly ZERO notes as to how that might turn out as I write this in July.

California 2024 Football Expert HANDICAPPING TIP

I’ll still lean to back them as a dog if I’m satisfied with my preseason keys.  I will look at Stanford 11/23 as an underdog.  I hate change.  Here’s hoping I can continue my 29-8 spread record over the past ten seasons (4-1 in ’23).

Grab the GoldSheet 2024-2025 Betting Guide

In a partnership with WagerTalk’s Ralph Michaels, the GoldSheet team has compiled a 60-page college football betting guide to help you prepare for the 2024-25 season.

Available free of charge, this preseason guide features our summer power ratings, projected point spreads and win probabilities for EVERY game of the upcoming season, plus coaching changes, quarterback transfers and much more. 


WagerTalk Live Odds Screen CFB

WagerTalk’s live college football odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the run spreads, totals and betting percentages for all college football games.

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