Cougs favored by a field goal against Cal for homecoming

Sep 27, 2022 - 12:51 AM

It’s officially homecoming week on the Palouse, and the Washington State Cougars will conclude their week of annual festivities with their second Pac-12 matchup of the season, against the California Golden Bears.

WSU (3-1, 0-1 in Pac-12) will look to bounce back after a heartbreaking loss in their conference opener against the now-No. 13 Oregon Ducks last week. Cal (3-1, 1-0) won their conference opener over the Arizona Wildcats, outscoring Arizona 28-7 in the second half for a 49-31 win.

The line is currently set at -3.5 in favor of the Cougars on DraftKings. The total for points is over/under 53.5 and the Cougars are -180 on the money line — $180 bet on WSU would win $100.

While both teams enter 3-1 and Cal has the lone conference win of the two, WSU has played a tougher schedule and has looked the better team thus far. But no matter how good WSU may appear to be, Cal has historically been a thorn in the Cougars’ side. Let’s travel back to some of the peaks of Cougar football the past decade.

In 2017, WSU entered Berkeley freshly ranked in the AP top-10 and left Berkley stunned. The Golden Bears completed dominated the No. 8 Cougars amidst the wildfire smoke, winning 37-3. Looking for vengeance in 2018 led by their magical quarterback Gardner Minshew, the Golden Bears nearly pulled the chair out from under the Cougars again, but Easop Winston hauled in the 10-yard score with just 32 seconds remaining to give the Cougars the 19-13 victory. Cal answered back in 2019 with a 33-20 victory in Berkley. The two were supposed to meet up in the shortened 2020 season but the game was called off just hours before kickoff.

Cal was a touchdown favorite in the 2021 meetup down in Berkley, but the Cougars were the ones that got to play spoiler this time. Calvin Jackson Jr. pulled down a unreal one-handed end zone grab to steal the show as the Cougars beat Cal 21-6.

One can expect yet another closely contested battle in Pullman with WSU being just about a field goal favorite.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.