11-23-2016, 04:38 PM
The article does not actually explain why we're playing Rice in the last game. It explains why we're playing Rice, but it was not originally supposed to be the last game. As it said, we were supposed to open our season against them, but the move was not because we had an opening we somehow forgot about. http://www.fbschedules.com/2014/06/rice-...-stanford/
Originally we had Northwestern on our schedule in both '15 and '16, but you'll recall they wimped out went the Big-10 decided to go to a 9 game conference schedule (They kept our 2019 game but dropped 2020-2022 as well): http://www.fbschedules.com/2015/08/stanf...-schedule/
You notice at the time the Rice game was still on the schedule for early 2016.
That created the extra opening on our schedule, which needed to be filled rather last minute (like, one years notice). Luckily, Stanford was able to schedule a Power-5 team, KSU, rather last minute. BUT, KSU could only play on the 2nd, so we had to move the Rice game, and Rice could only be moved to Thanksgiving, I believe: http://www.gostanford.com/news/2015/10/1...h=football
And so that is why we play Rice Thanksgiving weekend, instead of our original Non-Conference schedule of Rice on 9/3, NW on 9/24, and ND on 10/15 or whatever it was. So when you want someone to blame, don't blame our AD or Rice or KSU or the Pac-12, blame the assholes from the Big-10 and Northwestern who couldn't, God forbid, man up and play one extra Power-5 team in 2016. They had to keep Illinois State and Western Michigan on the schedule, but I guess losing to both of them was some nice karmic retribution for the Wildcats.
Originally we had Northwestern on our schedule in both '15 and '16, but you'll recall they wimped out went the Big-10 decided to go to a 9 game conference schedule (They kept our 2019 game but dropped 2020-2022 as well): http://www.fbschedules.com/2015/08/stanf...-schedule/
You notice at the time the Rice game was still on the schedule for early 2016.
That created the extra opening on our schedule, which needed to be filled rather last minute (like, one years notice). Luckily, Stanford was able to schedule a Power-5 team, KSU, rather last minute. BUT, KSU could only play on the 2nd, so we had to move the Rice game, and Rice could only be moved to Thanksgiving, I believe: http://www.gostanford.com/news/2015/10/1...h=football
And so that is why we play Rice Thanksgiving weekend, instead of our original Non-Conference schedule of Rice on 9/3, NW on 9/24, and ND on 10/15 or whatever it was. So when you want someone to blame, don't blame our AD or Rice or KSU or the Pac-12, blame the assholes from the Big-10 and Northwestern who couldn't, God forbid, man up and play one extra Power-5 team in 2016. They had to keep Illinois State and Western Michigan on the schedule, but I guess losing to both of them was some nice karmic retribution for the Wildcats.