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The North Carolina State Wolfpack take on the Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto, California, on Friday, Oct. 23. Kickoff is set for 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
NC State is favored by -6.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -240. Stanford, meanwhile, enters as a +6.5 underdog and is +195 on the moneyline to pull off the upset. The over/under sits at 55.5 total points.
Here’s my NC State vs. Stanford prediction and college football pickfor Friday, October 23.
NC State vs Stanford Prediction
- NC State vs. Stanford Pick: Stanford ML +225 (Play to +165)
My Stanford vs. NC State best bet is on Stanford to spring the upset at home. Find the best line available on our live NCAAF odds page.
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NC State vs Stanford Odds
| NC State Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-6.5 -110 | 55.5 -105o / -115u | -240 |
| Stanford Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+6.5 -110 | 55.5 -105o / -115u | +195 |
- NC State vs Stanford point spread: NC State -6.5 (-110), Stanford +6.5 (-110)
- NC State vs Stanford over/under: 55.5 (-105o / -115u)
- NC State vs Stanford moneyline: NC State -240, Stanford +195
NC State vs Stanford College Football Preview
North Carolina State Wolfpack Betting Preview: Gutted by NIL
Few teams in the country have dealt with a season from hell quite like NC State. After it was gutted for just about all its parts — losing a superstar running back and both top receivers to NIL in the process — injuries have ravished this roster.
After guard Yousef Mugharbil and tight end Vander Ploog were both declared out for the season, NC State's lost starter count increased to four.
Top running back Duke Scott left the Louisville game in Week 5 and hasn't returned.
Three more starters — wide receiver Jojo Trader, guard Kamen Smith and safety Tristan Teasdell — are all questionable to play this week. In total, eight starters or regular contributors could miss this week, and six are guaranteed to do so.
Coming off a bye week, that's not a great outlook.
In positive injury news, tackle Jimarion McCrimon was taken off the report after dealing with an injury since Week 5.
Quarterback CJ Bailey is trying his best to keep the ship afloat with late-down heroics. But sometimes, those attempted heroics go too far, which cost him the Vanderbilt game in unbelievable fashion.
NC State rebounded with a good win over Louisville, but it was trounced the following week by Wake Forest before heading on bye.
The defense is leaky, giving up more explosive plays on a per-snap basis than all but three teams in the country. It's the perfect marriage of below-average coverage ability, poor tackling and bad communication in the secondary, leading to breakdowns in coverage.
NC State has been lapped in the NIL era, and it likely brings the end to Dave Doeren's 14-year tenure in Raleigh.
Stanford Cardinal Betting Preview: Beyond Stuck in Neutral
This isn't the first time I've written about Stanford, and I set the table with the same bit every time. Stanford's athletic department has so little confidence in the football program that it set its homecoming game against Elon.
I spent time working in athletic departments, so I get that there's a bit more to it than just opponent — all of Stanford's October games are either on the road or on Friday — but the odds of winning on homecoming had something to do with it.
Well, Stanford got its homecoming win. It wasn't the flashiest win (Stanford gained just 62% of available yards and sat tied 0-0 after a quarter), but it's better than a loss.
Almost instantly, Stanford has become one of the hardest jobs in college football. It's expected to compete in a power conference with members on the opposite coast while operating with nothing for a budget and admissions standards that make landing transfers impossible.
You can hire an NFL legend and alumnus as general manager and try to fundraise all you want, but Stanford is beyond stuck in neutral. The car battery is dead, and there's no cell service to call for a jump.
QuarterbackDavis Warren has looked competent at times (and many times dreadful), and the offensive line is moving back toward the Stanford standard.
But running back Micah Ford remains the most painfully inefficient centerpiece to an offense in the country, scoring 7-of-8 touchdowns in just two games against Hawaii and Elon.
There's not much else to say. Only Virginia has a worse offensive three-and-out rate in the ACC (27.6% of drives), and Stanford isn't generating enough three-and-outs on defense to offset it (22.1% is 86th nationally).
NC State vs Stanford Pick, Betting Analysis
If you're looking for bad situational spots after an epic Week 7, there's plenty to choose from.
Most eyes go straight to BYU at UCF, as the Cougars come off the high of beating Notre Dame, or Tennessee at South Carolina after the Vols dominated rival Alabama in front of a record-juiced crowd.
But this spot is as bad, if not worse, than those other two.
NC State flies cross-country after a shortened bye week trying to get guys healthy. With eight starters down, the Wolfpack travel to the West Coast to play their latest game since 1960, something Doeren adjusted to with late-night practices this week.
Stanford Stadium offers a tough environment to adjust to — not in crowd noise, but in lack of attendance and atmosphere.
It's well documented that Stanford struggles to draw fans (its 56% fill rate was aided by home games against Notre Dame and rival Cal, otherwise hovering under 40%), and it produces the ACC's sleepiest atmosphere by far.
Bailey and NC State, with half a roster and a coach either on his way out or in a stale holding pattern, will try to find some early momentum in sleepy Stanford.
The Cardinal bit both Florida State last year and Louisville in 2024 in similar spots. We're calling a shot from well behind the 3-point line Friday night.
Pick: Stanford ML +225 (Play to +165)
