[CTcard]

The crazy Pac-12 is starting to sort itself out.  Stanford's chances for a bowl game are not as bleak as we might have thought.

I've thought Stanford had a reasonable shot at a bowl game all along, but it is touch and go and depends critically on what Stanford can manage to put on the field for a team.

The two most important position groups on offense are QB and OL, which is of course where Stanford is most depleted.
I'm shocked that Stanford's OL has been as good as it has been under the circumstances. It hasn't been great, but when coupled with decent QB play it's been passable. It's too close to the edge to survive when the QB isn't functional, and I fear it won't hold up versus better DLs, but getting even this much out of them is quite something. 
Whether it was the hit to the head or something else, Costello was simply not right versus UCF and Oregon (even before smashing his hand). He wasn't making passes he's made over and over again throughout his career.
So Stanford has had 3.5 games of at least pretty good QB play and won those 4 games. Their 4 losses included 3 games of horrendous QB play and one middling.

The defense is also on the edge. Stretches of good play, stretches terrible, sometimes within the same game (as Outsider pointed out). The ILB situation might get worse as Robinson didn't finish vs Arizona, but mostly we'll need enough offense to keep some pressure off.

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Going forward, I'd say we could beat anyone and lose to anyone.

@Colorado.
The buffs plays pretty well at home, but their defense is never good. They're last in the conference in yds/gm and yds/play. In fact they're second worst in all of FBS in yds/play allowed. Of course their offense is a lot better, and they put up good numbers at home in a win over ASU and a loss to $C last Friday.
Current forecast for game day is 48 and sunny.

@WSU
Roughly a similar profile to the buffs as to offense/defense strengths. WSU has been a bit snake bit so far, with three of their four losses by 4, 4, and 2 points. Against Utah they somehow managed to put up 526 yards and only 13 points. Doubt our defense will stop them much, hope the offense cruises.
Current game time is too far out for a forecast, but avg for the date in Pullman is high of 44, low of 31.

cal
They're in real bad shape at QB. Their offense disappeared the moment Garbers went down vs ASU. The defense remains competent but has been showing cracks lately, at least vs last year. My fear is Garbers suddenly recovers and comes back for Big Game.

und
Don't really think either of our lines can hold up against them, but ... Stanford does play better at home, und has shown they can put up a stinker and hasn't been overwhelming anyway, and who knows what personnel either team will be putting on the field in five weeks.

At the moment the difficulty level looks like und (home) > WSU (road) > Colorado (road) > cal (home); but things change quickly.

[CTcard]

The crazy Pac-12 is starting to sort itself out.  Stanford's chances for a bowl game are not as bleak as we might have thought.

I've thought Stanford had a reasonable shot at a bowl game all along, but it is touch and go and depends critically on what Stanford can manage to put on the field for a team.

The two most important position groups on offense are QB and OL, which is of course where Stanford is most depleted.
I'm shocked that Stanford's OL has been as good as it has been under the circumstances. It hasn't been great, but when coupled with decent QB play it's been passable. It's too close to the edge to survive when the QB isn't functional, and I fear it won't hold up versus better DLs, but getting even this much out of them is quite something. 
Whether it was the hit to the head or something else, Costello was simply not right versus UCF and Oregon (even before smashing his hand). He wasn't making passes he's made over and over again throughout his career.
So Stanford has had 3.5 games of at least pretty good QB play and won those 4 games. Their 4 losses included 3 games of horrendous QB play and one middling.

The defense is also on the edge. Stretches of good play, stretches terrible, sometimes within the same game (as Outsider pointed out). The ILB situation might get worse as Robinson didn't finish vs Arizona, but mostly we'll need enough offense to keep some pressure off.

-----------
Going forward, I'd say we could beat anyone and lose to anyone.

@Colorado.
The buffs plays pretty well at home, but their defense is never good. They're last in the conference in yds/gm and yds/play. In fact they're second worst in all of FBS in yds/play allowed. Of course their offense is a lot better, and they put up good numbers at home in a win over ASU and a loss to $C last Friday.
Current forecast for game day is 48 and sunny.

@WSU
Roughly a similar profile to the buffs as to offense/defense strengths. WSU has been a bit snake bit so far, with three of their four losses by 4, 4, and 2 points. Against Utah they somehow managed to put up 526 yards and only 13 points. Doubt our defense will stop them much, hope the offense cruises.
Current game time is too far out for a forecast, but avg for the date in Pullman is high of 44, low of 31.

cal
They're in real bad shape at QB. Their offense disappeared the moment Garbers went down vs ASU. The defense remains competent but has been showing cracks lately, at least vs last year. My fear is Garbers suddenly recovers and comes back for Big Game.

und
Don't really think either of our lines can hold up against them, but ... Stanford does play better at home, und has shown they can put up a stinker and hasn't been overwhelming anyway, and who knows what personnel either team will be putting on the field in five weeks.

At the moment the difficulty level looks like und (home) > WSU (road) > Colorado (road) > cal (home); but things change quickly.