[French Rage]

We play both Washington and Arizona, so it doesn't really affect our strength of schedule.

Yeah but the eye test doesn't care about SoS.  It cares about the little number to the left of the team name in the score box.  And there's still a lot of the eye test we have to deal with in the overall picture.

[French Rage]

We play both Washington and Arizona, so it doesn't really affect our strength of schedule.

Yeah but the eye test doesn't care about SoS.  It cares about the little number to the left of the team name in the score box.  And there's still a lot of the eye test we have to deal with in the overall picture.

[BostonCard]

UW better win this.  We need one highly ranked opponent when we play them this year and we're starting to run out of candidates.

Why?  We don't need anything other than to win our games.  Chances are we would play a ranked team in the Pac-12 championship anyways.  But nobody is going to ding us for our strength of schedule when we play 9 conference games and (hopefully) a conference championship, and schedule Notre Dame and a Power-5 team as OOC teams.

BC

[BostonCard]

UW better win this.  We need one highly ranked opponent when we play them this year and we're starting to run out of candidates.

Why?  We don't need anything other than to win our games.  Chances are we would play a ranked team in the Pac-12 championship anyways.  But nobody is going to ding us for our strength of schedule when we play 9 conference games and (hopefully) a conference championship, and schedule Notre Dame and a Power-5 team as OOC teams.

BC

[BostonCard]

My brother had bet the over at 85.  So he was sweating it.

BC

[BostonCard]

My brother had bet the over at 85.  So he was sweating it.

BC

[French Rage]

Cal fumbles, ASU wins.

[French Rage]

Cal fumbles, ASU wins.

[HisKneeWasDown]

[quote author=French Rage link=topic=15711.msg173002#msg173002 date=1474782099]
UW better win this.  We need one highly ranked opponent when we play them this year and we're starting to run out of candidates.

Why?  We don't need anything other than to win our games.  Chances are we would play a ranked team in the Pac-12 championship anyways.  But nobody is going to ding us for our strength of schedule when we play 9 conference games and (hopefully) a conference championship, and schedule Votre Dame and a Power-5 team as OOC teams.

BC
[/quote]

Why? the answer is simple: East Coast Bias.

Playoff committee needs to find a excuse to leave one conference out of the final four. SOS is a no-brainer. "Look at all those 3-loss teams Stanford played".

[HisKneeWasDown]

[quote author=French Rage link=topic=15711.msg173002#msg173002 date=1474782099]
UW better win this.  We need one highly ranked opponent when we play them this year and we're starting to run out of candidates.

Why?  We don't need anything other than to win our games.  Chances are we would play a ranked team in the Pac-12 championship anyways.  But nobody is going to ding us for our strength of schedule when we play 9 conference games and (hopefully) a conference championship, and schedule Votre Dame and a Power-5 team as OOC teams.

BC
[/quote]

Why? the answer is simple: East Coast Bias.

Playoff committee needs to find a excuse to leave one conference out of the final four. SOS is a no-brainer. "Look at all those 3-loss teams Stanford played".

[French Rage]

[quote author=French Rage link=topic=15711.msg173002#msg173002 date=1474782099]
UW better win this.  We need one highly ranked opponent when we play them this year and we're starting to run out of candidates.

Why?  We don't need anything other than to win our games.  Chances are we would play a ranked team in the Pac-12 championship anyways.  But nobody is going to ding us for our strength of schedule when we play 9 conference games and (hopefully) a conference championship, and schedule Votre Dame and a Power-5 team as OOC teams.

BC
[/quote]

That's true.  But it'd be nice to have a signature victory over a top 10 to point at.  Though even if they win UW and Tennessee might jump in anyways.

[French Rage]

[quote author=French Rage link=topic=15711.msg173002#msg173002 date=1474782099]
UW better win this.  We need one highly ranked opponent when we play them this year and we're starting to run out of candidates.

Why?  We don't need anything other than to win our games.  Chances are we would play a ranked team in the Pac-12 championship anyways.  But nobody is going to ding us for our strength of schedule when we play 9 conference games and (hopefully) a conference championship, and schedule Votre Dame and a Power-5 team as OOC teams.

BC
[/quote]

That's true.  But it'd be nice to have a signature victory over a top 10 to point at.  Though even if they win UW and Tennessee might jump in anyways.

[BostonCard]

Now you are being silly.  "Look at all the 3-loss teams Stanford has played" is a positive.  If we wind up playing a lot of 8 and 9 loss teams, sure.  But beating a bunch of 3-loss teams is not a problem.

BC

[BostonCard]

Now you are being silly.  "Look at all the 3-loss teams Stanford has played" is a positive.  If we wind up playing a lot of 8 and 9 loss teams, sure.  But beating a bunch of 3-loss teams is not a problem.

BC

[BostonCard]

Well, you guys got your wish; Washington survives, and Friday night will be a battle of undefeated teams.

BC

[BostonCard]

Well, you guys got your wish; Washington survives, and Friday night will be a battle of undefeated teams.

BC

[Mick]

Should we be more worried about our game against Colorado, and less worried about our game against Oregon?

BC

Michigan had a hard time against Colorado.

[Mick]

Should we be more worried about our game against Colorado, and less worried about our game against Oregon?

BC

Michigan had a hard time against Colorado.

[needle]

Stanford's schedule looks harder to me now than it did a day ago.

Washington--Obviously very, very tough
Washington State--Dangerous in general, Leach will certainly attack wounded secondary
Notre Dame--OK, this looks easier
Colorado--Suddenly looking like a top 25 team
Arizona--Their QB rushed for 176 yards against a good defense, and Stanford has at times struggled with mobile QBs. Did I mention he's really, really fast?
Oregon State--OK, this looks easier
Oregon--Nothing has convinced me this team is worse than last year, especially if they get Freeman back in time for the Stanford game
Kal--Shaping up to be more dangerous than I anticipated, I thought they would take a big step back from last year but maybe not
Rice--Not worth commenting about

[needle]

Stanford's schedule looks harder to me now than it did a day ago.

Washington--Obviously very, very tough
Washington State--Dangerous in general, Leach will certainly attack wounded secondary
Notre Dame--OK, this looks easier
Colorado--Suddenly looking like a top 25 team
Arizona--Their QB rushed for 176 yards against a good defense, and Stanford has at times struggled with mobile QBs. Did I mention he's really, really fast?
Oregon State--OK, this looks easier
Oregon--Nothing has convinced me this team is worse than last year, especially if they get Freeman back in time for the Stanford game
Kal--Shaping up to be more dangerous than I anticipated, I thought they would take a big step back from last year but maybe not
Rice--Not worth commenting about

[stupac2]

Stanford's schedule looks harder to me now than it did a day ago.

Washington--Obviously very, very tough
Washington State--Dangerous in general, Leach will certainly attack wounded secondary
Notre Dame--OK, this looks easier
Colorado--Suddenly looking like a top 25 team
Arizona--Their QB rushed for 176 yards against a good defense, and Stanford has at times struggled with mobile QBs. Did I mention he's really, really fast?
Oregon State--OK, this looks easier
Oregon--Nothing has convinced me this team is worse than last year, especially if they get Freeman back in time for the Stanford game
Kal--Shaping up to be more dangerous than I anticipated, I thought they would take a big step back from last year but maybe not
Rice--Not worth commenting about

Alternatively...

Washington: Lost their run defenders and it showed against Arizona, McCaffrey will have a field day.
WSU: Can't beat FCS teams, game is at home.
ND: Can't beat a bad Duke team.
Colorado: Has one good receiver, shut him down and it's fine (need Meeks/Holder back)
Arizona: Middling team, maybe last night says they're better than expected but I think it said more about Washington. Then again I expected Arizona to make it a game despite being middling.
Oregon: Lost to Nebraska and Colorado, can't stop anything on defense, offense is not nearly as scary at it used to be.
Cal: What have they done to show that they're good? Beat a wildly overrated Texas team? They lost to SDSU!

I'm not saying we're going to go undefeated, but our defense is nasty and even against the good run defenses we've played we've gotten yards. The game last night being so tight was largely a fluke based on the targeting non-call and losing two corners mid-game. If we can get past Washington I really like our odds.

[stupac2]

Stanford's schedule looks harder to me now than it did a day ago.

Washington--Obviously very, very tough
Washington State--Dangerous in general, Leach will certainly attack wounded secondary
Notre Dame--OK, this looks easier
Colorado--Suddenly looking like a top 25 team
Arizona--Their QB rushed for 176 yards against a good defense, and Stanford has at times struggled with mobile QBs. Did I mention he's really, really fast?
Oregon State--OK, this looks easier
Oregon--Nothing has convinced me this team is worse than last year, especially if they get Freeman back in time for the Stanford game
Kal--Shaping up to be more dangerous than I anticipated, I thought they would take a big step back from last year but maybe not
Rice--Not worth commenting about

Alternatively...

Washington: Lost their run defenders and it showed against Arizona, McCaffrey will have a field day.
WSU: Can't beat FCS teams, game is at home.
ND: Can't beat a bad Duke team.
Colorado: Has one good receiver, shut him down and it's fine (need Meeks/Holder back)
Arizona: Middling team, maybe last night says they're better than expected but I think it said more about Washington. Then again I expected Arizona to make it a game despite being middling.
Oregon: Lost to Nebraska and Colorado, can't stop anything on defense, offense is not nearly as scary at it used to be.
Cal: What have they done to show that they're good? Beat a wildly overrated Texas team? They lost to SDSU!

I'm not saying we're going to go undefeated, but our defense is nasty and even against the good run defenses we've played we've gotten yards. The game last night being so tight was largely a fluke based on the targeting non-call and losing two corners mid-game. If we can get past Washington I really like our odds.

[fullmetal]

I generally agree with stupac's sentiment.  Our schedule has been exposed a bit.  But the injuries are starting to bite, so there's pretty much no margin for error until Rice.  And this short week against UW worries me.

Specifically however, I completely agree with needle on WSU, Colorado, and kal.  Those are teams that Stanford could mistakenly be taking for granted (in terms of "known quantities," etc.).  We already know that UW, Oregon, and USB could be dangerous.

[fullmetal]

I generally agree with stupac's sentiment.  Our schedule has been exposed a bit.  But the injuries are starting to bite, so there's pretty much no margin for error until Rice.  And this short week against UW worries me.

Specifically however, I completely agree with needle on WSU, Colorado, and kal.  Those are teams that Stanford could mistakenly be taking for granted (in terms of "known quantities," etc.).  We already know that UW, Oregon, and USB could be dangerous.

[fullmetal]

I generally agree with stupac's sentiment.  Our schedule has been exposed a bit.  But the injuries are starting to bite, so there's pretty much no margin for error until Rice.  And this short week against UW worries me.

Specifically however, I completely agree with needle on WSU, Colorado, and kal.  Those are teams that Stanford could mistakenly be taking for granted (in terms of "known quantities," etc.).  We already know that UW, Oregon, and USB could be dangerous.

[fullmetal]

I generally agree with stupac's sentiment.  Our schedule has been exposed a bit.  But the injuries are starting to bite, so there's pretty much no margin for error until Rice.  And this short week against UW worries me.

Specifically however, I completely agree with needle on WSU, Colorado, and kal.  Those are teams that Stanford could mistakenly be taking for granted (in terms of "known quantities," etc.).  We already know that UW, Oregon, and USB could be dangerous.