The health of Buckeye quarterback Braxton Miller kept this line off the board early in the week, but it was sitting at 16 points as of Thursday.
Miller was injured in No. 2 Ohio State’s win over San Diego State, but backup Kenny Guyton came in and played well.
Cal has struggled in its first two games under new coach Sonny Dykes. The Bears lost to Northwestern in their opener and struggled to sneak by Portland State last week.
Cal has failed to cover the spread in its last seven games.
The Bears are 15-29 against the spread at home over the last 11 seasons and just 3-9 ATS as home underdogs.
View Ohio State vs California Odds and Stats.
Ohio State vs Cal Betting Line: Ohio State was sitting as 16-point road chalk at Sportsbook earlier in the week. The total was 66 over at Sportsbook.
Power Rankings / Prediction: It's a betting matchup between the No. 41-rated Golden Bears and the No. 43-ranked Buckeyes, according to the NCAAF Power Rankings here at Odds Shark. Predictive-scoring models run on this game indicate a potential 59-28 result in favor of the Buckeyes.
How They Match Up:
Offensively, the game matches up California's No. 55-ranked offense (33.5 PPG) against a Buckeyes defense that ranks No. 25 at 13.5 PPG. The Golden Bears passing attack has averaged 470 yards per game, more than the Buckeyes give up through the air (200.5 YPG on average).
Last time out for Ohio State, they were a 42-7 Sportsbook as they battled San Diego State at home. Ohio State covered in the match as a 28-point favorite, while 49 combined points moved the game UNDER for totals bettors. San Diego State didn’t make much of a game of it last time out, losing to the Buckeyes as Ohio State blasted them 42-7 in Week 2 action.
California was a 37-30 Sportsbook in their most recent outing at home against Portland State. They failed to cover the 30.5-point spread as favorites, while the total score (67) made Sportsbooks of OVER bettors. In California's last outing, Jared Goff threw for 485 yards to lead the Golden Bears over Portland State 37-30 at California Memorial Stadium.
Ohio State Buckeyes Trends:
When playing in September are 9-1
When playing on turf are 10-0
After outgaining opponent are 9-1
When playing outside the conference are 8-2
California Golden Bears Trends:
When playing in September are 5-5
When playing on turf are 3-7
After outgaining opponent are 3-7
When playing outside the conference are 5-5
A few Buckeyes at Golden Bears trends to consider:
Ohio State is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Ohio State is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Ohio State's last 6 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of California's last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of California's last 6 games at home
California is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games at home
California is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games
Next up:
Ohio State home to Florida A&M, Saturday, September 21
California at Oregon, Saturday, September 28
