California
ACC · 3-5
at
NC State
ACC · 3-4
Sat 31 Oct · 12:00 PM ET · ACC Network · Carter-Finley Stadium
Rest CAL 7 days, NCSU 8 days · Travel CAL 2,390 mi
Market
NCSU −7.0
total 56.5 · spread opened NCSU −8.5, moved −1.5 toward CAL
Atlas projectsAtlas
23.2–32.6
CAL–NCSU · total 55.8
Difference
+2.4
on the spread · total −0.7
C78/100
Mixed record.

A moderate disagreement of 2.4 points.

Across five seasons, cards this far from the market claimed 57% accuracy and delivered 49%. That gap is where this grade comes from.

How much weight this card's information deserves — not a recommendation.

Why

what the model is reading

Be careful about

  • One book is quoting this game, so the market number has no depth behind it and may move sharply.

Projection built Oct 29, 2026 4:14 AM ETMarket updated Oct 29, 2026 4:14 AM ETData status

New to Atlas? What a card is, and what a grade means

Market detail where the line opened, where it is now, and the prices
SpreadOpenCurrentMove
NC State−8.5−7.0−1.5
California+8.5+7.0+1.5
Price−110−112—

The spread has moved 1.5 toward California since the open.

TotalOpenCurrentMove
Game total56.556.5unchanged
Price (over)−110−112—
Moneyline · California +250 → +215 Moneyline · NC State −310 → −265 De-vigged, the market gives NC State a 69.6% chance. Books quoting: 1.

DraftKings · 1 book quoting

Projection detail the projected score, the chance of winning, the total's range and the most likely exact score
Projected score
23.2 – 32.6
California – NC State
Projected spread
NCSU −9.4
market −7.0
Projected total
55.8
market 56.5 · 80% range 35–77
NC State win probability
73.1%
from the score grid
Under probability
50.6%
at the current total of 56.5
Most likely score
24–31
1.0% of the grid — one cell of 6,400
How this number is made. Every FBS team starts the season at a preseason expectation built from last season's ratings, roster talent, recruiting, returning production and the coaching situation. After every game a filter updates each team's offense and defense, opponent-adjusted, and the two teams' numbers meet here with the home advantage. The total adds the teams' pace and the wind. The market is never an input; it is shown so you can see where Atlas differs and read why.

Atlas difference

MeasureAtlas modelMarketDifference
SpreadNCSU −9.4NCSU −7.0+2.4
Total55.856.5−0.7
NC State win probability73.1%69.6%+3.5 pts
A difference is not an edge. Atlas has measured what happens at every size of disagreement, and the gap between what the model claims and what it delivers widens as the disagreement grows. This game sits in the 2-4 band, where cards have claimed 57% accuracy and delivered 49% across 1,123 games.
Matchup how each offense compares with the defense it faces, season to date, ranked among 138 FBS teams

Season to date through 24 October: California 8 games, NC State 7 games. Ranks are among 138 FBS teams, 1st the best; the crest marks which side ranks better on each line.

California offensevs NC State defense
23.4102nd
Points per gameedge California
28.1105th
5.31120th
Yards per playedge NC State
6.27113th
80.8138th
Rushing yards per gameedge NC State
137.364th
293.115th
Passing yards per gameedge California
240.6102nd
4.573rd
20+ yard plays per gameedge California
4.9104th
1.861st
Sacks per gameedge California
1.3113th
38%96th
Third-down conversion rateedge NC State
36%38th
41%132nd
Red-zone touchdown rateedge NC State
69%126th
NC State offensevs California defense
32.346th
Points per gameedge NC State
31.6119th
5.9872nd
Yards per playedge NC State
6.40120th
159.165th
Rushing yards per gameedge NC State
191.4121st
252.648th
Passing yards per gameedge NC State
222.582nd
4.760th
20+ yard plays per gameedge NC State
6.4136th
1.967th
Sacks per gameedge NC State
1.889th
52%13th
Third-down conversion rateedge NC State
40%87th
61%63rd
Red-zone touchdown rateedge NC State
65%109th
Californiavs NC State
Situational
−0.1281st
Turnover margin per gameedge NC State
+0.0069th
70.419th most
Plays per game
68.939th most

Figures come from completed games only, so every one was known before kickoff. They are raw, not adjusted for opponents - All drivers has Atlas's adjusted view. College counts sack yardage as rushing, as the NCAA does.

Other models what FPI, SP+ and Elo say about this game, beside Atlas and the market
ModelMarginWinAs of
FPI (ESPN)NCSU by 11.279%Oct 28
SP+NCSU by 9.8—Oct 29
EloNCSU by 12.1—Oct 29
AtlasNCSU by 9.473%live
MarketNCSU by 7.0—live

Each model's number for this game as its source published it before kickoff; Win is the favored side's chance to win, where the model gives one. FPI's margin and chance are ESPN's own. SP+ is the difference in the two teams' ratings, plus 2.5 for a home side; Elo is the difference in ratings at 24 points a point, plus 2.6 for a home side, as Atlas measured it on past seasons. None of these is an input to Atlas's number, and none is here to settle anything: they show where Atlas sits among other models.

How this grade was computed the four things that set the letter, out of a hundred
C78

Mixed card

The disagreement is wide enough that the model's historical claim runs well ahead of what it delivered.

Calibration 32/45
Market agreement 20/25
Card conditions 10/15
Data completeness 15/15

Atlas sits 2.4 points from the market. The calibration curve, fitted to every completed season out of sample, expects cards at that distance to fall 10.0% short of what they claim — which is where the calibration component above comes from.

The total has moved 1.5 points since it opened. Cards on a market that has moved have calibrated worse in five of six seasons.

The grade describes how much weight the information deserves. It says nothing about which side of a market anyone should take, and Atlas does not publish that. How grades are computed.

All drivers all 4 things the model is reading, and how each team ranks against the rest of the country
Pace and possessions 117 plays · 79th percentile

A combined 117 plays per game — the 79th percentile of this season's games. A fast game, which lifts the projected total.

fewer playsmore plays
Offense, in points NCSU +3.9 pts

Atlas rates NC State's offense at +1.7 points a game against FBS average and California's at -2.2, opponent-adjusted, after 6 games this season.

CaliforniaNC State
Home advantage NCSU +2.6 pts

Playing at home is worth 2.6 points in this season's model, fitted, not assumed.

CaliforniaNC State
Defense, in points NCSU +2.6 pts

Atlas rates NC State's defense at -1.1 points a game against FBS average and California's at -3.7, opponent-adjusted, after 6 games this season.

CaliforniaNC State
Market movement how far the market has moved since the number opened, and which way

Total, open to current

57.6 56.5 55.4 Atlas 55.8 open 56.5 now 56.5
MeasureValue
Opening number56.5
Current number56.5
Market directionunchanged
Atlas directiondown

Atlas and the market point opposite ways on this total. That is information, not a verdict.

Two findings that are not in conflict

Atlas has measured disagreement twice, against two different reference points, and they say different things.

Measured againstWhat it predicts
The closing numberthe model's own failure — so a large difference lowers the grade
The opening numberwhich way the line moves — tracked publicly, not graded

A model far from the close is wrong; a model far from the open is early. The second finding is tracked in the open closing-line record and is deliberately kept out of the grade.

Reliability record what Atlas claimed and what it delivered, across the seasons it never saw while being built

Calibration by disagreement band

82% 64% 45% this card0-110+ claimed realized

Two series, labeled directly. The widening gap is why Atlas grades large disagreements down.

This band, five seasons

MeasureThis bandAll cards
Realized accuracy48.6%49.2%
Claimed accuracy57.1%58.0%
Calibration gap−8.5 pts−8.8 pts
Seasons above 50%1 of 5—
Games measured1,1233,864
Read the gap, not the claim. Atlas's raw confidence numbers run high — a claimed 57% has historically delivered 49%. The grade already corrects for this. The claim is shown so the correction is visible rather than hidden.
What this card is. Research, analytics and market context. Atlas does not publish selections, does not size anything and does not project returns. Every figure is computed out of sample from a point-in-time database: nothing attached to a game uses information that did not exist before kickoff.