California vs. Texas
Dec. 28, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
At San Diego
From his home in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers will surely take an interest in this matchup.
He’ll be hoping his beloved Bears are able to pay Mack Brown back for unabashed lobbying against Cal in 2004, which resulted in a Pac-10-less Rose Bowl (Texas vs. Michigan) and the Bears being relegated to ... the Holiday Bowl. (For the record, Sonny Cumbie out-dueled Rodgers as Texas Tech won, 45-31.)
The current teams are headed in opposite directions. California (7-5) has won three of its last four, while Texas (7-5) has dropped three of its last four.
In those four games (Wazzu, Oregon State, Stanford and ASU), the Golden Bear defense allowed a total of just 393 rushing yards. That sort of backbone will serve Cal well as it goes up against a Longhorn offense that does most of its business on the ground.
Opening point spread: Texas by 3
The pick: California 24-20
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