North Carolina vs Cal Spread, Picks & Expert Prediction – ACC Football Week 8

• The California Golden Bears are 10-point home favorites vs North Carolina
• The Tar Heels have been crushed in back-to-back losses
• Read below for North Carolina vs Cal prediction, pick and spread for October 17

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The Bill Belichick college experience is close to careening off the rails, as his North Carolina Tar Heels (2-3, 0-1 ACC) visit the California Golden Bears (4-2, 1-1 ACC).

UNC has been crushed in back-to-back games, leading to speculation the legendary NFL coach and the school were already compiling an exit strategy both parties could agree on — which both sides have insisted is not happening.

Either way, they find themselves as heavy road dogs in the college football odds, even though Cal has been struggled themselves, getting blown out in two of its last three.

Action gets underway at 10:30pm ET from California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, CA, with ESPN providing the play-by-play.

North Carolina vs Cal Odds & Spread

Odds as of October 16 at 11pm ET. Be sure to check out the best BetMGM bonus code before placing a bet on any Week 8 College Football matchup.

The Golden Bears check in as 10-point home favorites and an extremely short -400 on the moneyline. North Carolina is a hefty +310 underdoog on the moneyline.

The total sits at 47.5 points, with each school cashing the Under three times each so far in the season.

Turnovers Hampering Golden Bears

Cal’s solid 3-0 start to the campaign was trampled on with a hail of turnovers, resulting in a 1-2 record over the last three games.

The losses have been huge, too, with San Diego State hammering them 34-0 on Sept 20. Duke sent them into the bye with a 45-21 demolishing, dropping the Golden Bears to 1-1 in ACC play.

Over their first three games, Cal had just two turnovers, but during this stretch, they’ve turned it over six times in their losses.

It was a nightmare performance for Golden Bears’ QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who was intercepted three times, part of four interceptions on the day. In their two losses, Sagapolutele has thrown five interceptions.

The defense didn’t do much better, allowing Duke to rush for 180 yards and four TD’s, while also allowing two TD passes.

Cal’s offense isn’t built for shootouts, as they’re 14th in scoring in the ACC, putting up 24.2 points per game.

Tar Heels Have Zero Offense

Any legitimate competition the Tar Heels have faced has resulted in the team getting blown out of the stadium.

UNC was mashed 48-14 in its opener to TCU, and they were taken to the woodshed 34-9 by UCF, and went into their bye week getting trounced in their conference opener, 38-10 by Clemson. Their only wins are against non-power conference schools Charlotte and Richmond.

The Tar Heels are tied for the lowest scoring team in the ACC at 18.8 points per game, and the offensive outlook isn’t pretty: North Carolina ranks 133rd in yards per game, the fourth-worst mark in all of college football. They sit in the 120 range for both rushing yards and passing yards per contest.

They’re also in QB flux, as starter Gio Lopez (lower body) missed the game against Clemson, with backup Max Johnson getting the start. Currently, there’s no call yet on who will be under center.

There’s no relief coming from the defensive side, either, as UNC ranks 12th in points allowed, and outside the Top 10 in rushing yards and passing yards allowed per game.

North Carolina vs Cal Prediction

Pick: Under 47.5 points (-110 at BetMGM)

I get that North Carolina is in shambles right now, but it’s hard to hitch your double-digit betting hopes on Cal. They are 1-4-0 against the spread in their last five home games, and 3-7-0 ATS in their last 10 games overall.

They’ve been a double-digit favorite once this year, a whopping 14 points against San Diego State, and that ended in a dumpster fire.

It’s also madness to pick the Tar Heels in their current state, even with all those points. While both defenses are average at best, both schools rank outside the Top 10 in scoring in the ACC, making a wager on the total an appealing one.

The Tar Heels have gone Under the total in three of their last four, while Cal has seen the Under hit in three of five games this season. I don’t think either school has the offensive bounce to get this one over the points.