[Goose]

Cal by 5 is consistent with the Sagarin algorithm, as usual. Personally if I were putting in a bet I'd bet against Cal covering.

I think it is a tad high, but Cal should be favored. They have actually been improving pretty steadily on offense after Mendoza took over at QB. Ott provides them with a legitimate running game, if he doesn't collapse from overwork. In the WSU game, Cal lead all the way and the final score isn't indicative of the game. Of course, the 4 WSU turnovers had a lot to do with that.

Neither Cal nor Stanford have particularly good pass defenses. However, if Cal can sustain a running game IMO we are in trouble, because we cannot. Both teams are not very good and are trying to define themselves. This leads to wide variances in performance. For that reason, both teams have a reasonable chance to win. Perhaps Wilcox will do something stupid and not run Ott until we stop him. It is also slightly possible Ott is a bit banged up. He was obviously limping at the end of the WSU game. Stanford could also put up a greatly improved run defense, but I am not betting on that happening :-).

[Goose]

Cal by 5 is consistent with the Sagarin algorithm, as usual. Personally if I were putting in a bet I'd bet against Cal covering.

I think it is a tad high, but Cal should be favored. They have actually been improving pretty steadily on offense after Mendoza took over at QB. Ott provides them with a legitimate running game, if he doesn't collapse from overwork. In the WSU game, Cal lead all the way and the final score isn't indicative of the game. Of course, the 4 WSU turnovers had a lot to do with that.

Neither Cal nor Stanford have particularly good pass defenses. However, if Cal can sustain a running game IMO we are in trouble, because we cannot. Both teams are not very good and are trying to define themselves. This leads to wide variances in performance. For that reason, both teams have a reasonable chance to win. Perhaps Wilcox will do something stupid and not run Ott until we stop him. It is also slightly possible Ott is a bit banged up. He was obviously limping at the end of the WSU game. Stanford could also put up a greatly improved run defense, but I am not betting on that happening :-).