No. 22 Northwestern vs. Cal: Game info, how to watch, TV, preview, and more

IT'S GAME DAY! Here is everything you need to know about Northwestern vs. Cal -- or at the very least a link to everything you need to know.

In case you're wondering, we'll have an all-day game thread -- although please join me in our fancy new SB Nation chat room -- and of course, one for the game itself. Hopin' to get to Blondies, but we'll see how things work.

NORTHWESTERN VS. CAL Y'ALL

Game time: 10:30 p.m. ET, 9:30 p.m. Northwestern time, 7:30 p.m. local

Location: California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California

TV: ESPN2

Announcers: Mark Jones, Brock Huard, Lewis Johnson

Radio: WGN720 (Dave Eanet, Ted Albrecht)

Kickoff forecast: 66 degrees, no precipitation, sunny/cloudy evening

Odds: Northwestern -6, -220

Over/under: 60

Rankings: Northwestern, 22 (AP/USA Today), Cal, unranked

What this means to each team

Northwestern: The Wildcats won 10 games last year for the third time in program history and a bowl game for the firs ttime since 1949 (incidentally, also against Cal in the Rose Bowl.) They're looking to get 2013 off to a strong start and a loss would be a disappointing start, although the quirks of this game -- road game at night on the West Coast against a team with a tough new system -- are worrisome. Kain Colter and Venric Mark are looking to get off against a not-so-good Cal defense, while NU's very good defense looks to hold up against Cal's spankin' new offense.

Cal: After a dismal 3-9 campaign, Sonny Dykes is in charge. Known for his team's dynamic offenses at Louisiana Tech, Dykes has reinvigorated the Cal program, and although program-building takes some time, his simple offense shouldn't have taken that long to install. It bases itself around execution rather than complexity, and the question is whether Jared Goff -- a true freshman starting at QB -- can pull that off. Brendan Bigelow is a stud at running back, which plays a surprisingly large role in the "Bear Raid" offense. The defense was awful last year, but hopes to improves in a 4-3 set under Andy Buh.

Cal blog: California Golden Blogs

Northwestern injury report: WR Kyle Prater, WR Mike McHugh, OT Eric Olson (out)

Cal injury report: LB Nick Forbes (doubtful)

Important lynx:

Important links

• Preview from a Northwestern perspective
• Preview from an indifferent perspective
• Northwestern-Cal predictions
• Preview of Northwestern's offense
• Preview of Northwestern's defense
• 10 things to know about Northwestern football
• 10 things to know about Cal football
• Why to hate Cal
• Northwestern depth chart
• Cal depth chart

More from Sippin' On Purple:

• Northwestern vs. Cal 2013: Preview roundtable for No. 22 Wildcats-Golden Bears
• Northwestern vs. Cal: What to look for as the Wildcats face the Golden Bears
• I did something dumb about the fact that Northwestern is ranked 22
• Northwestern vs. Cal 2013: 7 reasons for Wildcats fans to hate the Golden Bears
• Tim Hanrahan, Northwestern Wildcats football, No. 1
• Northwestern vs. Cal injury report: Kyle Prater, Eric Olson, Mike McHugh out