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BERKELEY — For just the second time in history, the Big Game has been postponed.

Cal and Stanford, who were scheduled to meet for the 121st time on Saturday at Memorial Stadium, will instead play on Dec. 1 as the Bay Area deals with the effects of dangerous air quality as a result of the fires in Butte County. Kickoff has been scheduled for noon and the game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.

“I’d like to say it was a no-brainer. That was not the truth,” Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton said at a Friday afternoon news conference. “I think it was the right call to make based on all the information we could gather.

“We couldn’t say that (Thursday). There was enough ambiguity about what was going to happen with the air.”

The air quality index reading for Berkeley on Friday reached a peak of 256 in the early afternoon. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District categorizes anything above 200 as in the “very unhealthy” range.

The NCAA recommends that schools consider canceling outdoor sporting events when the AQI exceeds 200.

Knowlton, hired in April as Cal’s athletic director, said a decision wasn’t made earlier because campus officials wanted to have the most accurate projections for the air quality on Saturday. They sought the advice of campus environmental and medical experts, and also consulted with Stanford and the Pac-12 Conference.

“If Saturday was a blue sunny day and the AD made the decision to cancel the Big Game, that wouldn’t be good for the new AD,” Knowlton said.

The only other time the Big Game was postponed was in 1963, the day after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It was played a week later, with Stanford winning 28-17 on its home field.

Dec. 1 is actually the day after the Pac-12 championship game at Levi’s Stadium, but the date works because neither Cal nor Stanford is in the hunt for a berth in that game. Both schools are bowl-eligible and bowl matchups are scheduled to be announced on Dec. 2.

Both Knowlton and Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir said their thoughts are with folks in Paradise and Butte County who have lost loved ones or their homes.

Knowlton is hopeful the Bears’ Nov. 24 home game against Colorado — what was supposed to be their regular-season finale — won’t be impacted. But he added Cal already was looking at contingencies, including other stadium sites, in case the air quality has not improved. He declined to share any of those potential Plan B scenarios.

Knowlton was in San Francisco for an event Thursday when the AQI reading hit 282. He sensed by then “it wasn’t going to get much better.”

The decision to postpone the game belonged to Cal, as the game’s host this season, but all parties were in agreement.

Said Muir, in a statement, “We are thankful to the University of California for collaborating with us on the logistical challenges of rescheduling the Big Game, and are looking forward to playing the game on Dec. 1.”

Cal linebacker Evan Weaver, before the announcement was made, said on Twitter, “We want to play!”

Later he said, “December 1!”

Cal coach Justin Wilcox was part of the decision-making process “every step of the way,” Knowlton said. “The football side of him was, ‘Let’s play the game.’ But he understands the situation we’re in and he was completely supportive of the decision.”

All outdoor team practices on Friday were moved indoors or elsewhere, Knowlton said, and the athletic department was monitoring air qualify before making a decision about the Cal women’s basketball game against Pacfic, scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. at Haas Pavilion.

The decision to postpone was in line with Bay Area colleges (including Cal) and many K-12 school districts, which canceled Friday classes, and the Central Coast and North Coast sections, which have postponed and moved high school playoff football games.

One local college program plans to play Saturday. San Jose State moved up its 2 p.m. start time against Nevada by two hours. The conference hopes starting the game earlier will help the players avoid playing in potentially worse conditions that could crop up late Saturday afternoon.

The omnipresent smoke caused Cal to cancel a men’s basketball game on the Berkeley campus Thursday night. Stanford canceled Friday night’s men’s home basketball game against Wofford as well as Sunday’s women’s game against Ohio State at Maples Pavilion.

Besides the 1963 postponement, there was no Big Game played from 1916-17 during World War I, and from 1943-45 during World War II.

Cal decided to play on after natural disasters two years apart. In 1989, Cal hosted Washington as scheduled four days after the Loma Prieta earthquake. In 1991, Cal hosted USC as scheduled seven days after the Oakland Hills fire.

The Bears also played a Friday night game against Washington State last October despite poor air quality from the Santa Rosa area fires. Campus spokesman Dan Mogulof said the weather conditions and air quality a year ago were much different than in this case.

Staff writer Gary Peterson contributed to this report.