The (Real) Big Game

Forget the annual Big Game with Stanford. Right now, THE Big Game is the one on Saturday against USC (link here). USC and Cal are ranked first and seventh in the nation, respectively, and are battling for the Pac-10 title, not to mention, if things go really right, the BCS crown. Just how big is the upcoming Cal-USC game? ABC is touting it as the game to watch and will be televising it nationally. ESPN College GameDay has chosen it as the college game of the week (over the Texas-Oklahoma game) and will be airing their show live from the Coliseum. And the godfather of college football, Keith Jackson, will be doing the play-by-play of the game. The Coliseum has already sold out its 92,000 seats. 92,000! Crazy. And the winner, no doubt, will be an odds-on favorite for the Orange Bowl. Forget the Rose Bowl. If Cal wins on Saturday, they will, for the first time in a very, very, very long time, have a shot at the national title. Bad news, USC is a 7 1/2 point favorite going into the game. Good news, USC was a heavy favorite last season as well, before the Bears upset them in their only loss of the year. As a longtime Cal football fan, I'm flying high (and cashing in on years of agonizing, gut-wrenching losses).