California Golden Bears Odds

California Golden Bears Football

Like much of their Pac-12 competition, the Golden Bears played an extremely limited schedule in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, going 1-3 in their four contests. It was a frustrating year, especially since they were coming off of consecutive winning seasons for the first time since the 2008 and 2009 campaigns.

Oddsmakers are moderately bullish on the Bears in 2021, with a win total of six games that would get them back to the middle of the pack. See all of the Golden Bears odds above, as well as their full schedule, depth charts, against-the-spread (ATS) records and much more.

California Golden Bears Point Spreads

It wasn’t great to be a Golden Bears fan last season, especially if you were also a spread bettor, as they covered only once in four contests. Betting on the spread means betting on your team to “cover” a margin of victory set by oddsmakers, with underdogs (plus odds) needing to lose by less than the spread and favorites (minus odds) needing to win by more than the spread.

Here’s an example of a Bears spread from last season:

• California -1 (-110)
• Stanford +1 (-110)

The Golden Bears won by one point, 24-23. This means that the spread was a “push” or tie, and all spread bettors got their money back. For Golden Bears tickets to have cashed, they would have had to win by two or more points, while Stanford bets would've gotten paid only if they won — since there's no ties in college football, Stanford couldn't cover +1 without winning the game.

California Golden Bears Over/Unders

California had a middling defense (fifth in the conference) and struggled mightily on offense, averaging only 20.3 points per game last season. This was good news for under bettors, who cashed 75% of games last season. An under is one of two ways to bet on over/unders or totals. These are bets on the amount of points scored in the game.

For example, the total for Cal at Stanford might be 51 points. With a 24-23 game, unders win; if there were 52 or more points, overs would win. It doesn’t matter which team wins the game, just the amount of points scored.

California Golden Bears Moneylines

Another popular bet to make on the Golden Bears is a moneyline bet. Moneylines are very straightforward: All you have to do is pick the winner of the game. Since some teams are more likely to win than others, oddsmakers adapt by changing the payouts on both sides.

As an example, Cal winning as a +115 underdog against Stanford means that a $100 bettor would get $225 back (their original $100, plus $115 in profit.) If they were -115 favorites instead, that bettor would have to wager $115 to get the same $215 back, with only $100 being a profit this time.

California Golden Bears Props

If you’re a fantasy football expert who wants to take your speculative talents to the collegiate level, player props are for you. Instead of betting on the team, player props are just wagers on the stats that a specific player accumulates, just like fantasy!

Some Bears props you could bet on in 2021 include over/unders on QB Chase Garbers' passing yards, RB Christopher Brown Jr.'s rushing touchdowns, or WR Nikko Remigio's receptions.

California Golden Bears Futures

Having skin in the game for a whole season is fun: You get to root for every single game, and if your prediction is correct you make some money.

You can do this by betting Golden Bears futures, which are bets that are based on the entire season and settle at the end. Some futures you could bet on include their odds to win the Pac-12, over/under on their season win total, and more.

How to Bet on the California Golden Bears

Sports betting in California hasn't been legalalized yet, but state residents and visitors may have access to legalized betting in late 2022 or early 2023. Two existing sports betting initiatives have acquired the necessary signatures to appear on the Nov. 2022 ballot. Voters will choose between online sports betting or retail (casino) betting.

PrizePicks Promo Code

Californians can play PrizePicks DFS, a legal sports betting alternative. PrizePicks is an easy DFS option that prompts users to pick over/under props using their favorite Golden Bears players like Christopher Brooks or Chase Garbers. Download the PrizePicks app and enter the promo code 'ACTION' to qualify for a deposit match on up to $100.