Bowl season rolls along on Wednesday with a standalone game between the California Golden Bears and the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. The Bears are coming off an encouraging season and appear to have a bright future ahead of them, while Hawaii was able to finish strong and finish 8-4 in a season where the Rainbow Warriors were only expected to win 6 games prior to the campaign.
Thursday’s bowl action kicks off at 8:00 pm ET on ESPN in Hawaii. To get you set for this matchup, I have arranged my favorite bets into an Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Same Game Parlay with odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. Let’s get into the picks, but don’t forget about our NCAAF predictions for odds and picks on every postseason game.
California ML (-102)
Landon Sims (HAW) anytime TD (+185)
California vs Hawaii Same Game Parlay: +610 odds
XBOX Bowl Same Game Parlay odds: +589
California Golden Bears ML over Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (-102)
At first glance, the story of this game seems to be Hawaii playing in their home state, but our expert is honing in on California quarterback and potential 2026 Heisman hopeful Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (3,117 yards, 17 passing touchdowns) to show out in his first game back in his home state. The freshman quarterback announced that he plans to stay in Berkeley for next season, and our expert trusts in Sagapolutele and this upstart Cal team to cap off a solid season with a bowl win. There is certainly a path to victory for the Bears in this game, as California will have an edge against a Hawaii defense that struggles to stop the run and was recently shredded by UNLV’s potent offense in one of its most recent games.
On the other side, Hawaii quarterback Micah Alejado will be without his top receiver Jackson Harris in this game, and this is a pretty significant loss considering that Harris finished the season leading Hawaii in receiving (963 yards and 12 touchdowns). Furthermore, the California defense is 43rd in success rate allowed, so they should also hold an advantage against a Hawaii offense that 95th in success rate and could struggle to move the ball through the air. Our expert believes that California has the higher ceiling in this matchup, so we’ll back them in Sagapolutele’s homecoming game.
Landon Sims (HAW) anytime TD (+185)
As previously mentioned, it’s likely going to be difficult for Hawaii to move the ball through the air given the fact that Rainbow Warriors are going to be down their top wide receiver in this game. Additionally, the California defense is much better against the pass (43rd in passing success rate allowed, 55th in EPA per dropback) compared to its metrics against the run (103rd in EPA per rush allowed, 89th in rushing success rate allowed). That’s where Hawaii running back Landon Sims comes in. While he’s not the top ball-carrier on the depth chart, Sims has carved out a lane for himself within this offense, having record double-digit touches in 11 of the 12 games played this season. Look for the capable pass-catcher to be available around the end zone for his 6th touchdown of the season on Wednesday.
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