Big Game: Stanford and Cal have plenty at stake

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Six weeks ago, this year’s Big Game counted as potentially epic. Stanford was rolling along after its season-opening loss at Northwestern. Cal was unbeaten, nationally ranked and wading in strange, suffocating attention.

Not anymore.

A few days ago, on the brink of Stanford’s home game against Oregon, the Big Game still loomed as a tantalizing factor in the College Football Playoff race. The Cardinal, then 8-1, harbored realistic aspirations of reaching the four-team playoff.

Not anymore.

So does Saturday night’s clash at Stanford Stadium suddenly not matter at all? Should we find another college football game to watch, just because the Cardinal are no longer chasing the national championship and Cal is likely headed for a low-wattage bowl?

C’mon, people. It’s the Big Freakin’ Game.

Absolutely, it would be really cool if Cal (6-4) and Stanford (8-2) were both, say, 9-1 at the moment. And it would be cool if the Cardinal still entertained hopes of playing in a national semifinal game on New Year’s Eve.

Stanford players, lincluding Graham Shuler, 52 leave the field as Oregon won 38-36 at Stanford Stadium on Sat. November 14, 2015 in Stanford, Calif. Stanford players, lincluding Graham Shuler, 52 leave the field as Oregon won 38-36 at Stanford Stadium on Sat. November 14, 2015 in Stanford, Calif. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Big Game: Stanford and Cal have plenty at stake 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

But the 118th edition of this storied Bay Area rivalry still carries importance and intrigue, for many reasons. History and tradition matter, for one. So does the prestige of winning the Pac-12 championship, and Stanford can clinch a spot in the title game with a victory Saturday night.

That would put the Cardinal one win from the Rose Bowl. This also matters, even in the almighty College Football Playoff era, because the Rose Bowl remains a magical event.

Put it this way: If you don’t think waking up in Pasadena on New Year’s Day is meaningful, then you haven’t spent much time with Cal alums in the past 57 years.

Also consider how much the next two weeks will shape the way this season is remembered on both sides of the bay. If Stanford beats Cal and Notre Dame, the Cardinal will finish the regular season 10-2, head to a high-profile bowl and should view this as a great year tarnished only mildly by those two losses.

But let’s say Stanford stumbles the next two weeks and finishes 8-4. Cardinal fans will grumble all winter, especially because the Axe would return to Berkeley (after five consecutive Stanford wins in the Big Game). The season would be remembered mostly for a late collapse.

Cal fans, by contrast, would rejoice over two more wins, an 8-4 record and a mid-level bowl. In this scenario, head coach Sonny Dykes probably lands his contract extension, quarterback Jared Goff makes his NFL decision from a position of strength and the Bears savor their rapid rise from the netherworld.

And if Cal loses its final two games and wobbles into the postseason at 6-6, with only one victory in its final seven games? That might be progress, but it will feel hollow.

Another relevant subplot in Big Game week is Dykes’ future. His contract runs two more seasons, through 2017, and he’s reportedly restless about securing an extension — or, without one, possibly bolting. That’s why athletic director Mike Williams is trying to sign Dykes in “the coming weeks,” a source told Chronicle beat writer Connor Letourneau.

Dykes has pumped life into the Cal program since his miserable 1-11 debut in 2013. But it’s also fair to wonder if his offensive-minded system works against strong opposition. Cal’s only impressive win this season against a quality, Pac-12 foe was over Washington State.

So another Big Game loss, especially decisively, becomes fodder for Dykes skeptics. He understands the need for Cal to finally beat a good team, as he pointed out while noting the winner of Stanford-Oregon the past five years eventually won the Pac-12 title.

“Obviously, the conference championship has gone through those two schools the last five years, and we want to develop into the kind of program in that conversation,” Dykes said. “In order to do that, you have to beat those good teams. That’s kind of the next step for us.”

That’s also a big step for Cal. But it will carry extra meaning if it happens in the Big Game.

Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ronkroichick