Few families possess as many connections to the Cal or Stanford football teams as the McColls do to the Cardinal.

Milt McColl played for Stanford, as did his brother, Duncan, and his father, Bill, one of the greatest players in Cardinal history. In all, more than 20 family members over three generations have attended the school.

But McColl won’t be attending the 119th Big Game on Saturday in Berkeley — and he’s not alone. There are thousands of tickets available for the 2:30 p.m. kickoff, according to a Cal official.

Expect to see empty seats in the home and visitor sections.

“I think the game has lost some of the tradition,” McColl said. “There are a lot of challenges.’’

More than a dozen interviews with Cal and Stanford fans and alumni produced unanimity on the subject: Passion for the Big Game has waned in recent years.

It’s not a Stanford issue or a Cal issue. It’s not about the home team or the visiting team. It’s a sentiment that spans the Bay and the generations.

Fans still care. They still relish victory and enjoy needling their rivals. But interest, once feverish, has cooled.

“That’s absolutely true, and it’s irrevocable,’’ said Katharine Thompson, whose family has produced five generations of Cal graduates and who has attended, by her own estimate, more than 60 Big Games.

“They cannot get it back. I don’t know what they’re going to do. When people don’t go to the games, then the children won’t be interested when they grow up.’’

A range of reasons were given for the declining interest. These three were cited most often:

The schedule

McColl, who played for Stanford in the late 1970s and then the 49ers, remembers the sense of finality in the Cardinal lockerroom at the conclusion of the Big Game.

It wasn’t merely the last game of the regular season. For the winning team and fans, it was a chance to snare a sense of euphoria to carry through the winter and spring.

That is no longer the case. Changes to the broader landscape — from Stanford’s odd-year home finale against Notre Dame to Pac-12 conference expansion and the addition of a league championship game — have altered the late-season schedule.

Sunday morning, Cal will begin preparations for UCLA’s visit next week, while Stanford gets ready for Rice.

“It just doesn’t have the same impact not being the last game,’’ McColl said.

The logistics

For most of its history, the Big Game was played in the afternoon. Fans from both schools could plan tailgates and pre- and post-game parties. More than fan-friendly, it was kid-friendly.

But the television-dominated era of college football has wreaked havoc with logistics. In exchange for $3 billion over 12 years, the Pac-12 gave its network partners, ESPN and Fox, the flexibility to select the most appealing games.

That means the Big Game is just as likely to be at night as in the afternoon. It also means the kickoff time often isn’t determined until six days before the game.

“It has been hurt badly by not letting fans know in advance when it’s going to be played,’’ said Joe Starkey, the longtime voice of Cal football.

“People from both schools cross over the Bay to have parties. It’s a massive issue.”

The product

The teams don’t control the schedule or the kickoff time, but they’re at the heart of the reason cited most often for waning interest: The quality of the product.

The games are rarely close, upsets are infrequent, and never is the Big Game actually a big game on the national stage.

“For Stanford the last few years, it’s been ‘Gotta get through Oregon. Gotta get through USC,’ ” said Todd Husak, the Stanford radio analyst and former quarterback. “It was the same for Cal in the mid-2000s.

“There hasn’t been a matchup where both (the Bears and Cardinal) were in the top 20, or there were huge bowl implications. That takes away from the rivalry.”

The competitive imbalance over the past two decades in striking:

Stanford held the Axe for seven consecutive years under Tyrone Willingham, then Cal won seven of eight under Jeff Tedford, then Stanford re-asserted itself with six victories in a row – and is heavily favored Saturday to extend the streak to seven.

Only three of the past 14 games have been decided by a touchdown or less.

The last time both teams were ranked the week of the Big Game: 1991.

“The fact that one team has been good and the other team bad, or terrible, is probably the biggest factor,” said Leslie Mitchell, a Cal fan who has attended 41 Big Games (and plans to be in the stands Saturday).

“It’s hard to get too excited over games destined to be blowouts.’’