For the second straight week, the California Golden Bears are huge underdogs against a big-time opponent in the USC Trojans. Can they do their best to make a respectable effort and at least cover the spread?
The Cal/USC line opened up at 17 points, but has dropped down a bit to 15.5 to 16 points. There is probably a confluence of factors in the line dropping from the original spot, particularly with the Bears performing well last week in defeat and USC strugging mightily in a loss to Stanford. The Trojans are still heavy favorites to win, but they hardly look like the dominant men of Troy they've always been.
Cal were also big underdogs in the Horseshoe against Ohio State, but they managed to rally from a two touchdown effort to tie the game. The big problem is that Cal hasn't recently put that type of effort together against USC, losing by three touchdowns or more in their three previous meetings. The Bears probably will not find a better chance to pull out a victory, particularly with USC still probably stunned from their last defeat.
Talk about the game with Cal fans at the California Golden Blogs, with USC fans at Conquest Chronicles, and with Pac-12 fans at Pacific Takes.
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