Betting Odds

Point Spread: California -20
Total Line: 63

The Golden Bears will head to Sydney Australia to take on the to take on the Rainbow Warriors in this first game of the college football season Friday night August 28, 2016.
The Rainbow Warriors were a poor 3-10 last season and are heading into this new season under the tulage of new head coach Nick RolovichLast year Hawaii had a less than impressive offense averaging only 17.6 points per game. It is expected that 5th year QB Ikaika Woolsey will start this year for the Rainbow Warriors after having 19 starts under his belt over the last few years.

Key running back Paul Harris will lead the ground game after 1132 yards and 6 touchdowns last season. Leading wide receiver Marcus Kemp is also returning giving Hawaii a deep receiving corp. Hawaii has added a new defensive coordinator after allowing more than 35 points per game and are hoping to elevate this floundering defensive squad using a 4-3 lineup which includes leading tackler Garcia Williams who had 89 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 2015.

California are coming into this season with an 8-5 record from 2015 and a win at the Armed Forces bowl 55-36 against a decent Air Force team. The Golden Bears had an excellent offensive game last season scoring an average of 37.9 points per game with their star QB Jared Goff. This season will see replacement Davis Webb who transferred in from Texas Tech. Some of California’s key offensive players, Tre Watson, Vic Enwere and Khalfani Muhammad who earned over 1500 yards and 12 touchdowns are all returning. The wide receiver positions is a different story and will be made up of a group of hungry young players looking to make their mark. Cal will have to work on lowering the opposition scoring after giving up on average 30.7 points per game. Their leading tackler Damariay Drew who plays safety will be returning with 71 tackles and 2 interceptions last year.

Betting Trends

• California is 5-1 against the spread in their last 5 games.
• The Golden Bears are 2-5 against the spread in their last 7 games.
• The game total has gone over the posted line in 5 of Hawaii’s last 5 games.
• Hawaii is 6-1 against the spread in their last 7 games vs PAC 12.

California Golden Bears vs Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Free Pick

Hawaii has a solid returning offensive cast and should be able to improve on last year’s numbers. Cal on the other hand may need a few games or more to get their offense in gear and you’d have to think that there will likely be a drop off at the QB position with Goff gone. We feel that that the Bears will just want to get out of this game with a win and stay healthy. The Rainbow Warriors are used to the travel and the time change and should give Cal everything they can handle making backing the dog a solid proposition.

Take Hawaii plus the points!