Auburn Tigers vs California Golden Bears Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 09/09/2023

Game Time: 10:30 pm ET, Saturday, September 9, 2023

Venue:  California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, CA

Where to Watch:  ESPN

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Auburn -6.5, Cal +6.5; Over/Under:  54.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Auburn -6.5, Cal +6.5; Over/Under:  54.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Auburn -6.5, Cal +6.5; Over/Under:  54.5 points

Auburn Tigers:  1-0 (0-0) (2nd place, SEC West)

California Golden Bears:  1-0 (0-0) (3rd place, Pac-12)

Do not miss out on our expert handicapper analysis! Amedeus Mastrangelo is on a HOT STREAK in CFB coming off a MASSIVE 9-2 CFB WEEKEND! Make sure you check out his picks and many more from the expert handicappers featured in the Shop Picks section.

Auburn Tigers:  won their last game at home against the UMass Minutemen 59-14.

California Golden Bears:  won their last game on the road against the North Texas Mean Green 58-21.

Auburn is entering this game with a 1-0 record overall and they have a 0-0 record in their conference games too.  They are 1-0 in their home games, 0-0 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be on the road for this game. They won their last game against UMass 59-14. Payton Thorne was the starting QB and he completed 10/17 passes for 141 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and 0 interceptions. Sean Jackson led the team in rushing yards with 64 and 1 TD. Malcolm Johnson Jr. led the receivers with 59 receiving yards on 2 receptions. Eugene Asante led the defense in that game with 3 solo tackles and 3 assisted tackles while Donovan Kaufman, Marcus Harris, and Elijah McAllister each led the defense in sacks with 1. Jaylin Simpson came away with the only interception for them in that game.

 

 

 

California is entering this game with a 1-0 record overall and they have a 0-0 record in their conference games too.  They are 0-0 in their home games, 1-0 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be at home for this game. They won their last game against North Texas 58-21. Ben Finley was the starting QB and he completed 24/34 passes for 279 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. Jaydn Ott led the team in rushing yards with 188 and 2 TDs. Jeremiah Hunter led the receivers with 64 receiving yards on 6 receptions and 1 TD. Jackson Sirmon led the defense in that game with 6 solo tackles and 2 assisted tackles while Jackson Sirmon and Myles Jernigan each led the defense in sacks with 1. Myles Jernigan and Kaleb Elarms-Orr each came away with 1 interception for them in that game.

The current betting odds have California listed as a 6.5 point underdog in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Cal made a lot of moves in the transfer portal this year to improve their team and they picked up a lot of power 5 talent. They showed it in their season opener as they went on the road against North Texas and blew them out in the 2nd half after a slower start to the game. Auburn also played well in their season opener under their new head coach Hugh Freeze but they were also at home against UMass who has improved but was still a 1 win team just a year ago. Now Auburn has to travel far into another time zone for their 1st road game of the year and Cal was a very good team at home last season when they were really bad, they are going to be even better at home this year now that they have a good team. Both of these teams impressed in week 1 but Cal is at home getting points and they are a live underdog to win this game outright. The best way to place a bet here is on California to cover the spread in this game.

Auburn California Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, September 9, 2023 (10:30 pm ET start time) is California 42 Auburn 35.

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Auburn Tigers: 2-6 ATS after playing a non-conference game. 3-6 ATS in the first month of the season. 6-1 UNDER against Pac Twelve conference opponents. 7-4 UNDER after 1 or more consecutive straight up wins.

California Golden Bears: 8-4 ATS as an underdog. 42-26 ATS as an underdog of 3.5 to 10 points. 8-3 UNDER off a road blowout win by 28 points or more. 13-6 UNDER after gaining 575 or more total yards in their previous game.

Auburn Tigers:  N. Mardner (WR) Ques Sat - Undisclosed. J. Hunter (RB) Ques Sat - Undisclosed. C. Wooden (S) Ques Sat - Undisclosed. J. Rhym (CB) Ques Sat - Undisclosed.

California Golden Bears:  K. Doerue (RB) Ques Sat - Undisclosed. J. Williams-Thomas (RB) Ques Sat - Undisclosed. S. Jackson (QB) Ques Sat - Upper Body. B. Cardwell (RB) out for season - Undisclosed.

“It was good to see our defense play hard. I thought we played harder than we have in the scrimmages and than we did in the first possession. I thought we started to show a little passion.” - Hugh Freeze after his team’s win against UMass in their last game.

“It’s significant. We pay attention to it, but the team, we don’t have a lot of control over any of that. What we can control is practice and performing. When the news broke about the ACC, it was good news, but we talked about it for about seven seconds.” - Justin Wilcox after his team’s win against UNT in their last game.

WR Hooks, Shane 

WR Shorter, Jyaire 

WR Fair, Jay  

TE Fairweather, Rivaldo 

QB Thorne, Payton 

RB Hunter, Jarquez 

WR Hunter, Jeremiah 

WR Grizzell, Trond 

WR Young, Monroe 

TE Endries, Jack 

QB Jackson V, Sam 

RB Ott, Jaydn 

FB Alfieri, Andy 

Passing: P. Thorne (141)

Rushing: S. Jackson (64)

Receiving: M. Johnson Jr. (59)

Touchdowns: R. Ashford (3)

Passing: B. Finley (279)

Rushing: J. Ott (188)

Receiving: J. Hunter (64)

Touchdowns: I. Ifanse (3)

Coaches:

Auburn Tigers: Hugh Freeze (1st season)

California Golden Bears: Justin Wilcox (7th season)