[tps_title]Cal at Stanford[/tps_title]
[tps_header]8:30 p.m., ESPN[/tps_header]
CAL (6-4, 3-4) AT
STANFORD (8-2, 7-1)
7:45 p.m., ESPN
Pointspread: Stanford is favored by 11 points
— Stanford opened as a 12.5-point favorite.
— Getting that elusive sixth win for bowl eligibility after four failed tries was a relief for California. Following that up with a Big Game win over rival Stanford would end an even longer drought and be even more significant for the Golden Bears. Cal clinched its first bowl bid since 2011 by beating Oregon State last week and now heads into Saturday night’s game at No. 15 Stanford seeking its first win in its most important rivalry contest since 2009.
— Cal has one player on the team who played in that last bowl game in 2011 — defensive lineman Mustafa Jalil — but none of the Golden Bears has beaten Stanford. Cal’s last win in the series came in 2009 when the Bears won 34-28 at Stanford behind 193 yards rushing from Shane Vereen and Mike Mohamed’s interception of Andrew Luck near the goal line in the closing minutes.
— The Cardinal have since won five straight, and few of those contests have even been close as they have taken the clear upper hand in Bay Area college football superiority. Stanford has outscored Cal 201-75 the past five years, including a 63-13 win at home in 2013 in the final game of coach Sonny Dykes’ first year with the Bears.
— Cal has come a long way from that 1-11 campaign, and the Bears now feel as though they have a team that can hold its own in the trenches against the more physical Cardinal.
— It will mark the fifth time that the two rivals will play in a bowl game in the same season. It is just the fourth meeting in the past 20 seasons where both have winning records.
— Although its playoff hopes were likely dashed with Saturday’s 38-36 loss to Oregon, Stanford can still clinch the Pac-12 North and a spot in the conference championship game with another victory over its rival. The loss was the Cardinal’s first since the season opener and ended an eight-game win streak.
— The defeat overshadowed yet another outstanding performance from Christian McCaffrey, who set a Stanford record with his eighth straight 100-yard rushing game, running for 147 yards and a touchdown. The Heisman Trophy hopeful leads the FBS with 241.8 all-purpose yards per game, over 30 more than second-place Tyler Ervin of San Jose State.
— McCaffrey could become just the fifth Pac-12 player since 1978 to average 200 or more all-purpose yards. That group includes USC’s Marcus Allen in 1981 (232.6), Stanford’s Glyn Milburn in ’90 (202.0) and USC’s Reggie Bush in 2005 (222.3) and Marqise Lee in ’12 (206.4).
California is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games
California is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of California’s last 7 games
California is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games on the road
Stanford is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games
Stanford is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games
Stanford is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games at home
Stanford is 21-4 SU in its last 25 games at home
My pick: Stanford will win but Cal will cover
Steve Rivera’s pick: Stanford will win and cover
Anthony Gimino’s pick: Stanford will win and cover
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