Cal vs. Washington State: Pre Palouse Open Thread

CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS (3-1, 1-1 Pac-12) at Washington State Cougars (2=3, 1-1 Pac-12)

GAME INFO

Saturday, Oct. 4 | 7:30 pm PT
Martin Stadium | Pullman, WA
TV: Pac-12 Networks - Kevin Calabro (Play by Play), Yogi Roth (Analyst), Lewis Johnson (Sideline Reporter)
Radio: KGO 810 AM - Joe Starkey (Play by Play), Mike Pawlawski (Analyst), Todd McKim (Sideline)
Live Stats: WSU statbroadcast
Live Audio: TuneIn Radio
SiriusXM Satellite Radio: Sirius (139) and XM (198)
Cal Student Radio: KALX 90.7 FM
Series History: Cal leads, 44-26-5
Last Meeting at WSU: Cal 31, at WSU 17 (Oct. 13, 2012)
Last Meeting: WSU 44, at Cal 22 (Oct. 5, 2013)

One wonders whether the California Golden Bears and Washington State Cougars expected to be in this position just a couple of weeks ago. After all, the Cougars started out the season with losses against Rutgers and Nevada while Cal started well but tumbled in a heartbreaking last-second defeat against Arizona two weeks ago. But after last week's improbable victory by the Cougs at Utah and the Bears' comeback win against Colorado in double overtime, here are the Cougs and the Bears, sniffing first place in the early season Pac-12 North standings.

It's ours for the taking now. #GoBears pic.twitter.com/a3go4TwhYg

— The Bench (@TheBenchCal) October 3, 2014

So there you have it.  Because of Arizona's win against Oregon on Thursday night, the winner of tonight's game between Cal and Washington State will own first place in the Pac-12 North.  Sure, it's still early in the season and there's a lot of football left to play.  But who would have ever thought this possibility before the season started?

Cal used to be the victim of the "Curse of the Palouse," suffering terrible loss after terrible loss in Pullman.  The Bears, however, have not lost in Pullman since 2001, winning four straight games at Martin Stadium. Cal's last trip to Washington State was a 31-17 win in 2012, which proved to be Jeff Tedford's last victory as Cal coach.

This is your pregame thread. Talk about the game here as kickoff draws near. Look for the first quarter thread right before the game starts.

LET'S DO THIS! GO BEARS!

IN CASE YOU MISSED THESE ARTICLES DURING THE WEEK:

Nick Kranz previews the Washington State defense

Pacific Takes compares the Air Raid and Bear Raid

Berkelium 97 previews WSU's Air Raid offense

Q&A with CougCenter