This week's picks

Big Al's CFB Lab

Data updated
ACC

California

3–5 (2–3 ACC). 2026 season, games through Oct 24, 2026.

SP+ rating-6.297th of 138
SP+ offense22.5100th of 138
SP+ defense28.289th of 138
PRIME-10.2107th of 138
Elo1236118th of 138
Week 9

California at NC State

Sat, Oct 31, 12:00 PM ET. SP+ projection: California 25, NC State 33. Big Al's pick: NC State (77%).

Full head to head

Offense

StatValueRank
Points per game23.4101st
Yards per play5.20124th
Success rate36.4%130th
Explosive play rate9.0%128th
Yards per carry3.68133rd
Yards per pass attempt6.18117th
Sack rate allowed3.3%23rd
3rd down conversion34.1%109th

Defense

StatValueRank
Points allowed31.6119th
Yards per play allowed7.20131st
Success rate allowed44.5%95th
Explosive plays allowed15.8%134th
Yards per carry allowed6.11132nd
Yards per attempt allowed9.01121st
Sack rate6.4%64th
3rd downs allowed44.1%108th

Players

AJ Tuitele (LB), Adam Mohammed (RB), Ashten Emory (RB), Chase Hendricks (WR), Ian Strong (WR), JD McKinley (LB), Jackson Brousseau (QB), Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (QB), Mason Mini (TE).

Results

WeekOpponentResult
1vs. UCLAL 24–45
2at SyracuseW 21–18
3vs. WagnerW 49–7
4vs. ClemsonL 10–24
5at UNLVL 31–39
6vs. Virginia TechW 25–20
7vs. Wake ForestL 7–41
8at SMUL 20–59

Ranks are out of 138 FBS teams. Stats from play-by-play; scoring counts FBS opponents only. Compare California with any team.

Site
Picks two teams at random. Any FBS team can come up.

How we picked it

Three ratings look at a team in three different ways. Big Al's pick is the team at least two of them favor.

Where the game is won

Each row puts one team's unit against the unit it faces, by national rank out of all FBS teams. An edge is a gap of 25 spots or more.

What these mean

  • SP+ Bill Connelly's opponent-adjusted efficiency rating. Points better than an average FBS team on a neutral field.
  • PRIME A second opponent-adjusted rating, built from possession efficiency, on the same points scale. SOS is schedule difficulty; SOR is wins above what an average team would get against that schedule.
  • Elo A results-only rating that moves after each game based on the score and the opponent. 1500 is average.
  • Success rate Share of plays that stay on schedule: 50% of the yards needed on 1st down, 70% on 2nd, all of it on 3rd and 4th.
  • Explosive rate Share of plays that are runs of 12+ yards or completions of 16+ yards.
  • Defense rows What opponents did against the team. Lower is better except sack rate and interception rate.
  • Projection Rating gap, plus 2.5 points for the home team, and games usually land within about 14 points of it. A coin flip is 50%.

Ratings: SP+ via CFB Update; PRIME via primecfb.com. Box and play stats computed from CollegeFootballData.com play data (via the public cfbfastR files), FBS games only for scoring. Rushing yards here exclude sacks, so they run higher than official totals. Ranks are out of 138 FBS teams.

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