Welcome to our weekly predictions post from our writers. You’ll see what they expect the score to be and any wacky or rational predictions they expect to see in each game!
SMU is playing for an ACC championship game appearance and potential playoff berth. Cal is playing for what, exactly? Anything less than a complete annihilation is a victory for Cal in this one.
I hope Rolovich does something fun. That’s it.
We have nothing to lose now. SMU has their season on the line. Lets play fast and loose.
SMU has a ton to play for with the ACC title game scenarios. Cal is in turbulence and despite potential energy from senior day and the interim buzz leading the charge early, its not enough against a SMU team that’s playing their best ball of the year.
Cal will put forth a spirited effort in the first half before this surprisingly good SMU team puts the game away in the second half. That or this will be a complete blowout from the first whistle.
In what may be the most confusing game of the season, Rolovich leads the team to a 24-21 victory over SMU and we’re all dumbfounded.
So often over the years, Cal’s anti-climactic post-Big-Game final game of the season has been a perfunctory damp squib. That feels even more magnified with Justin Wilcox gone and Nick Rolovich acting as placeholder.
SMU has been on the upswing and has all the motivation in the world. Surely there’s no chance that this is anything but a routine loss?
But also, if we’re really gonna do this “pretend that SMU is kinda sorta maybe a rival that we play every year” thing, it would be nice if Cal would create some lore and hard feelings by actually doing something in this game.
Listen. I absolutely could not care less about the final score of this game. Like, I always hope Cal wins, don’t get me wrong – I would never root for a loss in any circumstances. But I am vastly more excited about going to see my friends, responsibly enjoying some beverages, and (for the first time in a while) watching something NEW. Will it be better? Impossible to say, and if it is, it probably won’t be until next year. But it’ll be something we haven’t seen before or come to expect, and right now, that feels like a win.
I think you’ll see a high effort game from the guys. It’s been an impossible week for them, especially with the holiday on Thursday, but I expect them to put up a real fight, seniors closing out strong, lots of guys looking to get more plays on tape as well. SMU are possibly the best team they’ve faced all year, and a win gets them into the ACC championship, so the Mustangs will be locked and loaded looking to take care of business.
Cal tries to keep it close early in the game only for SMU to finish the job while we fade into obscurity.
