SMU Set to Visit - Oddsmakers List Bears as Double-Digit Underdog

As we wonder how well the Cal football team can leave behind a disastrous Big Game to prepare for a very good SMU team visiting for Saturday’s regular-season finale, it’s worth noting that the oddsmakers aren’t giving the Bears much of a chance.

The Bears (6-5, 3-4 ACC) open as 10-point underdogs to the Mustangs, according to Draftkings, for their 5 p.m. matchup at Memorial Stadium.

SMU (8-3, 6-1) will be a motivated squad, sitting among three teams that currently share the conference lead. Along with Virginia and Pitt, only two of them will emerge to land spots in the ACC championship game on Dec. 6 at Charlotte.

The Mustangs are the only team among the threesome that closes its schedule on the road. Pitt will kick off at home vs. Miami 9 a.m., while Virginia hosts rival Virginia Tech at 4 p.m.

SMU and Virginia clinch spots in the championship game with wins Saturday. Pitt needs a victory and needs either SMU or Virginia to lose. Miami still has an outside shot at the title game, but the path requires a win over Pitt plus upset wins by Virginia Tech and Cal.

SMU will be formidable. The Mustangs stayed in the title-game hunt with a decisive 38-6 win over a Louisville team without key players. Quarterback Kevin Jennings passed for 303 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a fourth TD in the victory.

If that 38-6 score is familiar, it’s the same margin SMU won by in its meeting with the Bears a year ago in Dallas. The Mustangs beat Cal 13-6 in the 1957 season opener, their only previous visit to Berkeley.

So if SMU has clear, tangible reasons to show up ready to play on Saturday, what should we expect from the Bears?

Cal arrived at Stanford for the 128th Big Game armed with a list of reasons to perform well. Instead, the Bears delivered their poorest performance of the season in a 31-10 defeat.

They coughed up three fumbles that led directly to Stanford touchdowns — the first two on scoops and score plays — to barely give themselves a chance. Thirteen penalties for 128 yards — both season worsts — factored into the proceedings.

But while mistakes painted the first half, Stanford dominated the final two quarters, preventing the Bears from managing even one first down in the third period.

Coach Justin Wilcox, whose job hangs in the balance, called the outcome “very painful, frustrating.” Senior defensive lineman Aidan Keanaaina added, “It’s heartbreaking. It’s very important to our team, to our coaches and to our alumni. It’s a legacy game. It really hurts for all us.”

Cal remains bowl eligible, so Saturday will not be its final outing of the season. A win over the Mustangs could propel the Bears into a somewhat more attractive postseason matchup.

“I think that’s the biggest thing . . . (how we) respond,” Keanaaina said. “As painful as it’s going to be, we’re going to sit there and watch every play critique every little detail and see where we went wrong.

“We’re going to take that and move on to this next week against a good opponent and put our best foot forward.”

Wilcox, who has never seen quit in his players, said there is only one way to react to the Big Game fiasco.

“Come back and go to work again. Have each other’s backs,” he said. “We have a lot to play for. We’re in the postseason, but we want to go to the best postseason game possible.

“We have another chance to compete against an excellent team. I expect them to come back ready to go.”

Follow Jeff Faraudo on Twitter, Facebook and Bluesky

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