Cal
3 stories filed under Cal on Wazzu. The newest of them: “Cougs open season cold in Berkeley with 80-58 loss to Cal”, “The Pac-12 chaos bowl math for Cougs to sort”, and “Your Pac-12 Picks Guy Is Back and He's Got the Cougs”. Eighty to 58 stings. The math for the Cougs right now is quantum physics, and not the fun kind. The unofficial read for people who left Pullman and stayed Cougs. The list below is every Cal story on Wazzu, newest first.
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Cougs open season cold in Berkeley with 80-58 loss to Cal
Eighty to 58 stings. The Cougs opened the season cold in Berkeley and Cal made them pay for it. WSU hung around through the first quarter, but that second quarter buzzer-beater from Lulu Twidale, her sixth three-pointer of the night, broke things open. She finished with 26. That's a tough number to answer. Eleonora Villa did her part. Twenty points and seven assists is a stat line you can hang a hat on. She kept pushing. WSU cut the lead to eight in the third, which is the kind of moment that makes you believe. Then Cal answered with a 12-2 run. That's the kind of punch that decides a season opener. It's one game. November basketball is ugly. The Cougs have time to find a rhythm, but the defense has to tighten up. You can't spot a team like Cal that kind of lead and expect to claw it back. If you need something warmer to think about, go read about the fall rowing wrap at Head of the Lake. That crew finished strong. It's a good reminder that not every Coug team started the season cold. Go Cougs.
The Pac-12 chaos bowl math for Cougs to sort
The math for the Cougs right now is quantum physics, and not the fun kind. Jon Wilner's latest bowl projections lay it out cold: Washington State needs five wins in five games just to get to six and be bowl-eligible. That's not a stretch run. That's a Hail Mary from your own end zone with no time left. The rest of the Pac-12 legacy schools are sorting through their own chaos. UCLA and Utah are undefeated, Oregon has two losses, and somehow Oregon State is a juggernaut with a path to the College Football Playoff. Five legacy schools are one win away from locking in a bowl. The other seven, including the Cougs, are doing calculus, trigonometry, and long division just to see if they can get to six wins. For Wazzu, the answer is probably no. Wilner suggests the Cougars should turn their attention to 2027, and he's not wrong. They've already flipped play-callers and quarterbacks. There aren't many cords left to pull. You can read more about one of those tough tests ahead in "Boise State's offense is the test WSU's D hasn't passed yet." But here's the thing: even if the bowl math doesn't add up, you still show up on Saturday. You still yell. You still wear the flag. Because being a Coug was never about the math. Go Cougs.
Your Pac-12 Picks Guy Is Back and He's Got the Cougs
The Hotline's picks guy is back, and he's got the Cougs covering. That's the headline from this week's betting column, and for a WSU team sitting at 1-3, it's the kind of news you text a friend before the line moves. The man went 10-3-1 last week and is now 25-23-2 for the season. He's picking Washington State to cover the 2-point spread against Fresno State on Saturday night, and he's doing it because he thinks the Cougs played well enough against Arizona to trust the home side. That's a specific vote of confidence, not a homer pick. The column digs into the larger story of the rebuilt Pac-12, too. The conference's first month produced a 19-12-1 record against the spread. Five teams, Oregon State, Boise State, Fresno State, Washington State, and Colorado State, are a combined 15-4-1. That's not nothing. The betting public hasn't caught up to Oregon State's improvement, and the Cougs are quietly covering. The picks guy notes that while this success won't sway the CFP selection committee, a Pac-12 champion with no more than two losses should be well-positioned for a bid. If you want the full picture on WSU's running back situation heading into Saturday, our story on Kirby Vorhees being banged up for Fresno is worth your time. The Cougs need ball security, and the picks guy thinks they've got enough to cover. Go Cougs.