Cal football opens as slight favorites over Stanfurd in the 123rd Big Game
Vegas thinks Cal will be the team walking out of the Big Game with one in the win column—but just by a hair
After witnessing two painful of football—and after an offseason of high hopes—it’s tough to feel hopeful about the Golden Bears.
But with our 0–2 team going up against another 0–2 team, there manages to be some optimism about California.
Per Vegas Insider, the line opened with California favored by a mere two points. In the time since, the line has moved to favoring Cal by three points. The over/under is now set at 54 points, meaning they project a 28.5–25.5 California win.
Home-field advantage is traditionally considered to be three points, so Vegas is essentially deeming these teams as equals. Blowout wins are always great, but I think we’d all take any win over Stanfurd—and keeping the Axe where it belongs—in a season like this.
Wins over rival Stanford (letting us keep the Axe) and the current top team in the Pac 12 team the past few years, Oregon, plus WSU, would show Cal had a successful season. A 3 and 2 record might get us second in the North (must admit I haven't looked at the standings) and a win over the #2 South team might get us into a decent bowl. Cal could have won easily yesterday but for stupid penalties on punt and kickoff returns.
I'm so tempted to bet this game but some of the lines have moved to Cal -2.5 or -2.