[BostonCard]

Playing along with this game, yes,  I think Stanford would’ve gone to the playoffs over ‘Bama had it gone 12-1. It would’ve had, what, three top 10 wins. I think Alabama had one top-25 win. Of course Alabama would’ve been the better team but that doesn’t necessarily mean a ton in playoff land.

That said, the season would’ve unfolded much differently. With a better win-loss record early on I doubt Shaw switches to Costello — which means, perversely, that Stanford would’ve probably lost to UW and ND. So, ironically, I think Thomas ends up making zero difference in the W-L.

Maybe not.  I suppose it depends on whether Chryst still gets injured against UCLA and we get to see what Costello can do against UCLA and ASU.  If that doesn’t change, remember that Chryst won games against Oregon, Utah, and OSU when he came back, but the Oregon State game, which was a disaster offensively, prompted Shaw to change over to Costello.

In our alternate universe, we still lose game 2 against USC, but keep SDSU from driving at the end for the win.  Our offense still looks out of sorts against SDSU and the first few series against UCLA, Chryst gets injured, and Costello looks good in beating UCLA and ASU.  Chryst comes back against Utah, looks good against Oregon and then has a near disastrous game against OSU. I think Shaw still makes the change even though we are 7-1 heading into WSU.  With Costello at QB and Thomas on the DL we beat WSU and set up a matchup against the Huskies with playoff implications.  We beat UW, Cal, and ND and head into the rematch against SC at 11-1.  Winner of the match-up of 11-1 teams goes to the playoffs, and with Thomas at DL I like our chances better.

BC

[BostonCard]

Playing along with this game, yes,  I think Stanford would’ve gone to the playoffs over ‘Bama had it gone 12-1. It would’ve had, what, three top 10 wins. I think Alabama had one top-25 win. Of course Alabama would’ve been the better team but that doesn’t necessarily mean a ton in playoff land.

That said, the season would’ve unfolded much differently. With a better win-loss record early on I doubt Shaw switches to Costello — which means, perversely, that Stanford would’ve probably lost to UW and ND. So, ironically, I think Thomas ends up making zero difference in the W-L.

Maybe not.  I suppose it depends on whether Chryst still gets injured against UCLA and we get to see what Costello can do against UCLA and ASU.  If that doesn’t change, remember that Chryst won games against Oregon, Utah, and OSU when he came back, but the Oregon State game, which was a disaster offensively, prompted Shaw to change over to Costello.

In our alternate universe, we still lose game 2 against USC, but keep SDSU from driving at the end for the win.  Our offense still looks out of sorts against SDSU and the first few series against UCLA, Chryst gets injured, and Costello looks good in beating UCLA and ASU.  Chryst comes back against Utah, looks good against Oregon and then has a near disastrous game against OSU. I think Shaw still makes the change even though we are 7-1 heading into WSU.  With Costello at QB and Thomas on the DL we beat WSU and set up a matchup against the Huskies with playoff implications.  We beat UW, Cal, and ND and head into the rematch against SC at 11-1.  Winner of the match-up of 11-1 teams goes to the playoffs, and with Thomas at DL I like our chances better.

BC