This week's picks

California vs. Syracuse 2026 Recap

College Football Charts
Data updatedOct 31, 2026
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Picks two teams at random. Any FBS team can come up.

How we picked it

How we picked it

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

Where the game is won

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.

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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California at Syracuse, Week 2

Final: California 21, Syracuse 18. Elo pick: California (correct).

California and Syracuse: team pages with every stat and national rank. Every Week 2 game, graded.

California at Syracuse, Week 2: questions people ask

Who won California vs. Syracuse, and what was the score?

California beat Syracuse 21–18 on Sat, Sep 12 at JMA Wireless Dome.

Did Elo get California at Syracuse right?

Yes. Elo picked California, close to a coin flip going in.

What decided California at Syracuse?

California won with the lower success rate, 33% to Syracuse's 37%. Syracuse hit more big plays: 13% of its plays were explosive (runs of 12+ yards, passes of 16+), to 5%. Syracuse turned it over 3 times to California's 0.

California vs. Syracuse player stats: who had the big game?

Steven Angeli (Syracuse) threw for 306 yards, Adam Mohammed (California) ran for 74 yards, and Justus Ross-Simmons (Syracuse) had 82 receiving yards.

What's the California–Syracuse series record now?

It's tied 2–2.