The Big Game is one of the better rivalry games played every season and it comes with big BCS implications in 2011. Despite their rough loss last week, the Stanford Cardinal are hungry to knock off their Bay Area foes and move back up in the polls. And while the Cal Golden Bears may not have lived up to expectations this year, a win over the highly ranked Cardinal could propel them to a big bowl game.
Heading into the week, Stanford entered as heavy favorites. According to Odds Shark, Andrew Luck and the Cardinal will be favored by 20 points on Saturday. Various gambling websites such as Bodog and 5 Dimes have the spread slightly lower at 19 points.
The spread may seem high, but you have to expect Andrew Luck, Stepfan Taylor and Co. to come out angry and ready to release some of their frustrations out on an iffy Cal defense. At the same time, though, if Stanford presses and plays errant football, the Bears could use it to their advantage and just might sneak away with a huge conference victory.
For more on the game, check out California Golden Blogs and Rule Of Tree.