Betting Sites Make No. 14 Louisville a Heavy Favorite Over Cal

Cal had not been more than a one-touchdown underdog in any of its first nine games. That changes this week, as the Golden Bears are more than two-touchdown underdogs in Saturday’s road game against 14th-ranked Louisville.

DraftKings makes Louisville a 17.5-point favorite over Cal, while FanDuel, BetMGM and ESPN BET Sportsbook all make the Cardinals 18.5-point favorites against Cal as of Sunday afternoon.

Including this game against Louisville, Cal (5-4, 2-3 ACC) has been an underdog in seven of its first 10 games, and the Bears won three of those games in which it was an underdog. But Cal has not been more than a 6.5-point underdog in any game this season until now.

The reason for the big spread in the Cal-Louisville game is obvious. Cal (5-4, 2-3 ACC) has lost two games in row and four of its last six. The only two wins in that six-game spread were accomplished with game-changing takeaways in the closing minutes. And the Bears are coming off a 31-21 home loss to Virginia.

Meanwhile, Louisville (7-1, 4-1 ACC) has won three in a row, including a road win against Miami. The Cardinals’ only loss this season was a three-point loss in overtime to Virginia. The Cardinals are coming off a 28-16 road victory over Virginias Tech and are tied for fourth place in the ACC standings, a half-game out of second place..

Louisville leads the ACC in total defense, so scoring points will be a challenge for Cal. Cardinals running back Isaac Brown is second in the ACC in rushing, averaging 97.8 yards per game and 8.6 yards per carry.

ESPN Analytics give Louisville a 91.7% chance of beating Cal.

Cal’s Saturday game at Louisville will begin at 4 p.m. Pacific time and 7 p.m. Louisville time. It will be televised by ESPN2.

The Bears will have a bye after that game, and their final two regular-season games will be a road game against Stanford on November 22 and a home game against SMU on November 29. Cal needs one more win to become bowl-eligible for the third straight year.

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