[Farm93]

Not only were those games close, but now Stanford has the burden of coming in as the defending Pac-12 champ.  And that is a position few in the current Stanford program really know much about.  Some players likely came to Stanford to accomplish that Rose Bowl goal, so that has got to make it a bit harder to battle through pre-season conditioning drills.  Opponents now will want to beat the champs, so every opponent will be a bit more eager to play Stanford to prove their worth.

And then there is Oregon.  If Oregon beat Stanford they would have won the national championship.  NO DOUBT.  They would have played and absolutely crushed South Bend U.  So Stanford literally took a BCS title away from the Ducks.  I can't even imagine how motivated they will be for their chance at Stanford in 2013.

It would be great to project Stanford to a 14 win season, but winning in 2013 will be harder than it was to win the Pac-12 in 2012.

[Farm93]

Not only were those games close, but now Stanford has the burden of coming in as the defending Pac-12 champ.  And that is a position few in the current Stanford program really know much about.  Some players likely came to Stanford to accomplish that Rose Bowl goal, so that has got to make it a bit harder to battle through pre-season conditioning drills.  Opponents now will want to beat the champs, so every opponent will be a bit more eager to play Stanford to prove their worth.

And then there is Oregon.  If Oregon beat Stanford they would have won the national championship.  NO DOUBT.  They would have played and absolutely crushed South Bend U.  So Stanford literally took a BCS title away from the Ducks.  I can't even imagine how motivated they will be for their chance at Stanford in 2013.

It would be great to project Stanford to a 14 win season, but winning in 2013 will be harder than it was to win the Pac-12 in 2012.