California Hawaii Odds

The 2016 college football season kicks off on Friday, August 26 in a matchup between the California Golden Bears and the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. These teams will square off in Sydney, Australia inside ANZ Stadium Friday night.

California is coming off its best season yet under Sonny Dykes. It went 8-5 overall after beating Air Force 55-36 in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Hawaii managed just a 3-10 season in Norm Chow’s final year on the job. That led to his firing and the hiring of Nick Rolovich, who spent the past four years as the offensive coordinator at Nevada.

Kickoff inside ANZ Stadium is scheduled for 10:00 EST Friday with ESPN providing the television coverage. If you are looking to wager on this game, you’ll find a line of California -20.5 over Hawaii with a total set of 63 points.

My Early Lean: Hawaii +20.5

Last season set up perfectly for the Golden Bears to have their best year of the Dykes era. They had a whopping 17 returning starters, including eventual No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff at quarterback. They made the most of it and went 8-5 overall.

But now Dykes will be rebuilding in his 4th year here. The Golden Bears lose a whopping 29 players who contributed in 2015, including Goff and his top six receivers. They went from being the #3 most experienced team in the country last year to #119 this year. They return just nine starters in all.

While the losses on offense are huge, the lack of proven playmakers on defense are just as big. The Golden Bears have lost each of their top six tacklers from last year after SS Damariay Drew tore his ACL in the spring and is out for the year. They are going to have a hard time stopping anyone this season.

It’s certainly hard to be too high on Hawai’i coming into 2016 after going a combined 11-39 over the past four seasons. However, I like the new head coach in Rolovich, who had some great offenses at Nevada. The new defensive coordinator is Kevin Lampa, who has a whopping 42 years of coaching experience.

The cupboard certainly isn’t bare for the Warriors, who return 15 starters and 46 lettermen while losing only 18 letter winners. The offense figures to be much better under Rolovich’s tutelage with the experience that returns.

Senior QB Ikaika Woolsey has been named the starter. He has made 19 starts in his career here and should be primed for his best season yet. Leading rusher Paul Harris (1,132 yards, 6 TD, 5.7/carry last year) is back, as are each of the top three receivers from a year ago. Four starters return along the offensive line as well. I look for this unit to have plenty of success against an inexperience Cal defense.

Hawai’i has been a great bet in Week 1 each of the past five seasons, going a perfect 5-0 ATS during that stretch with five straight Pac-12 opponents.

Hawai’i has been a great bet in Week 1 each of the past five seasons, going a perfect 5-0 ATS during that stretch with five straight Pac-12 opponents. It beat Colorado 34-17 as 6-point home favorites in 2011, covered as 42-point dogs at USC in a 10-49 loss in ’12, covered as 23-point home dogs to USC in a 13-30 loss in ’13, nearly upset Washington as 17-point home dogs in a 16-17 loss in ’14, and upset Colorado 28-20 as 7-point home dogs in ’15.

The Warriors are 21-8 ATS in the first two weeks of the season since 1992. The Golden Bears are 1-4 ATS in their last five neutral site games. The Warriors are 6-1 ATS in their last seven vs. Pac-12 foes.

Read More Like This