WSU vs Cal: Preview, game thread, schedule, TV and online streaming info

Today, your Washington State Cougars and their winless Pac-12 record will welcome the 7-10 California Golden Bears to Pullman for another show on the 2018 Ernie Kent Excuseapalooza Tour. The game will tip off at Friel Court at 1 PM PDT. The game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network and streamed live on Pac-12.com. Sorry, DirecTV viewers. Are we still making those jokes? I haven’t been around much.

The Bears hold a dominating 80-48 record against the Cougs all-time along with a four-game win streak. The last time WSU beat Cal, the leading scorer was Jordan Railey. Cal checks in at #197 on KenPom's laptop, 138th in the RPI and oh look, Beau Baldwin scored again.

Can the Cougs pull off the upset today? Actually, it wouldn’t be an upset! This might be WSU’s best chance to not go winless in conference, if that were to be a thing you could declare after three conference games, as Cal has struggled to find its footing after Cuonzo Martin packed up and headed east to the SEC. The Bears are led by Junior Guard Don Coleman. Coleman averages 18 points per game, four times higher than last season with the increased playing time after Grant Mullins and Jabari Bird graduated. Freshman Justice Sueing is another one to watch, averaging 14 points and dropped 27 against the Huskies on Thursday.

As mentioned above, the Cougs still haven’t found a win in conference play after a season that started off so promising; today could be a jumping-off point to getting back to a less-embarrassing season or it could be further proof that any team can get hot in a gym for three days and win a random pre-season championship. You still can’t take that trophy from us, though. No refunds!

Pomeroy projects the Cougs to win this game 79-73 with a 70% confidence (!!!). Vegas has the Cougs as a 4.5 point favorite with a 151 O/U, so the smart money is on WSU (!!!!).

This page will also serve as your game thread for this afternoon so feel free to cheer for the losing streak(s) to end along with the rest of us here. Also, please regale us with your favorite mem...oh Beau Baldwin just scored again.

Go Cougs! RIP, Keith.