California Golden Bears vs Louisville Cardinals Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 11/08/2025

Game Time: 7:00 pm ET, Saturday, November 8, 2025

Venue:  L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium, Louisville, KY 

Where to Watch:  ESPN2

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  California +20.5, Louisville -20.5; Over/Under:  50.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  California +20.5, Louisville -20.5; Over/Under:  50.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  California +20.5, Louisville -20.5; Over/Under:  50.5 points

California Golden Bears:  5-4 (2-3) (11th place, ACC)

Louisville Cardinals:  7-1 (4-1) (4th place, ACC)

Do not miss out on our expert handicapper analysis! Big Al McMordie is on a HOT STREAK in college football on a 14-6 CFB RUN for +$7,510 PROFIT! Make sure you check out his picks and many more from the expert handicappers featured in the Shop Picks section.

California Golden Bears:  lost their last game at home against the Virginia Cavaliers 31-21.

Louisville Cardinals:  won their last game on the road against the Virginia Tech Hokies 28-16.

California is entering this game with a 5-4 record overall and they have a 2-3 record in their conference games too. They are 3-2 in their home games, 2-2 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 lost their last game against Virginia 31-21. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was the starting QB and he completed 19/30 passes for 213 passing yards, 0 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Kendrick Raphael led the team in rushing yards with 46 and 2 TDs. Trond Grizzell led the receivers with 80 receiving yards on 8 receptions. Aaron Hampton led the defense in that game with 8 solo tackles and 7 assisted tackles while TJ Bush led the defense in sacks with 1. No one on the defense came away with an interception for them in that one.

 

 

 

Louisville is entering this game with a 7-1 record overall and they have a 4-1 record in their conference games too. They are 4-1 in their home games, 3-0 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 Virginia Tech 28-16. Miller Moss was the starting QB and he completed 19/28 passes for 136 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. Isaac Brown led the team in rushing yards with 130 and 1 TD. Chris Bell led the receivers with 56 receiving yards on 8 receptions. TJ Quinn led the defense in that game with 4 solo tackles and 6 assisted tackles while no one on the defense recorded a sack for them. No one on the defense came away with an interception for them in that one.

The current betting odds have Louisville listed as a 20.5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Louisville has looked great in their games this season with their 7-1 record overall and their 4-1 conference record which has them right near the top of the ACC. They are ranked inside the top 25 and they have a real shot at making a run to the ACC Championship with the way the dominos have been falling. Meanwhile, California has looked good in their games this season with their 5-4 record overall, but their 2-3 conference record has them lower in the ACC. They are off a 31-21 loss to Virginia at home in their last one and they have been finding ways to lose games from winning positions lately. Now they have another trip out East and this isn't a great situation for them. Their offense has looked good this year with their freshman QB, but it has also been really up and down at times and they don't really have a great defense to bail them out. Louisville has a really good offense that is going to put up points in this game, and they also have a good defense that will show up when they need to make plays. This is a bad situation for Cal on the road against a much better Louisville team, look for Louisville to roll as they pull away throughout this game. The best way to place a bet here is on Louisville to cover the spread in this game. 

California Louisville Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, November 8, 2025 (7:00 pm ET start time) is Louisville 45 California 17.

Don't miss our champion handicappers free picks and expert football picks today. And if you enjoyed this California Golden Bears Louisville Cardinals prediction, be sure to drop by every day for our weekly NCAAF predictions and previews.

California Golden Bears: 1-4 ATS after 3 or more consecutive losses against the spread. 6-11 ATS after playing a game at home. 4-8 ATS vs. good offensive  teams - scoring 31 or more points/game. 8-4 OVER vs. good passing teams averaging 250 or more passing yards/game. 

Louisville Cardinals: 30-20 ATS in a home game where the total is between 49.5 and 56. 6-3 ATS in November games. 21-14 OVER in all lined games. 12-6 OVER when the total is between 49.5 and 56. 16-9 OVER in games played on turf.

California Golden Bears:  L. Robinson (OG) Questionable - Undisclosed. S. Tounkara (LB) Questionable - Undisclosed. M. Bryant (CB) Questionable - Undisclosed. N. Burrell (DL) Questionable - Undisclosed. B. Marshall (TE) Questionable - Undisclosed. S. Bjerke (OG) Questionable - Undisclosed. A. Manutai (CB) Questionable - Undisclosed. R. McCulloch (LB) Questionable - Undisclosed. J. Parker (RB) Questionable - Undisclosed. L. Johnson Jr. (RB) Questionable - Undisclosed. B. High Jr. (RB) Questionable - Undisclosed. I. Crosby (CB) Questionable - Undisclosed.

Louisville Cardinals:  I. Brown (RB) Questionable - Undisclosed. N. Jackson (OG) Questionable - Undisclosed. T. Folmar (OG) Questionable - Undisclosed. S. Gates (RB) Questionable - Undisclosed. J. Wilder (RB) Questionable - Undisclosed. D. Watson (RB) Questionable - Undisclosed. T. Egan (QB) Questionable - Undisclosed. S. Clark (LB) Out - Ankle.

“The want to and the effort was there but we missed out on some opportunities. On defense it was the third downs, offense we had a couple we didn't quite connect on. Ultimately against a team like that, you have to make those and we didn’t do that.” - Justin Wilcox after his team’s loss against UVA in their last game. 

"Definitely proud of our football team today. I thought we were showed great grit, great toughness. It was a disappointing first half overall, and I think we all felt that. It was a little bit down one of the locker room, including myself and players. We could tell that. So we just kind of had to take a couple deep breaths, understand there's still 30 minutes of football to play. We can play better if we just go out there and believe in ourselves, and not take our foot off the gas.” - Jeff Brohm after his team’s win against VA Tech in their last game. 

WR King, Jordan

WR Grizzell, Trond

WR De Jesus, Jacob

TE Mini, Mason

QB Sagapolutele, Jaron-Keawe

RB Raphael, Kendrick

WR Hurry, TreyShun

WR Bell, Chris

WR Lacy, Caullin

TE Kurisky, Nate

QB Moss, Miller

RB Brown, Isaac

Passing: Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (2,195)

Rushing: Kendrick Raphael (612)

Receiving: Jacob De Jesus (541)

Touchdowns: Kendrick Raphael (11)

Passing: Miller Moss (1,929)

Rushing: Isaac Brown (782)

Receiving: Chris Bell (743)

Touchdowns: Chris Bell (6)

Coaches:

California Golden Bears: Justin Wilcox (9th season)

Louisville Cardinals: Jeff Brohm (3rd season)