[phxfan]

[quote author=ChicagoTree link=topic=17793.msg208507#msg208507 date=1509080271]
How did national championship become a topic in the context of this game, or season? Classic troll move.

I dunno, it's not a crazy thing to wonder about. Shaw himself has talked about how playoffs are an aspiration for him and the team. It's the one thing he hasn't accomplished. I'd be frankly a bit disturbed if he weren't thinking about playoffs.

Now maybe this particular season it shouldn't be the aspiration -- but then again, 538 estimates, IIRC, a two-thirds chance for reaching the playoff if the team wins out. So there's a chance.

Then there's the future. It's unlikely, but if every draft-eligible player returned for 2018, it'd be a super-experienced team on both sides of the ball. Who'll be the right QB for that team? It shouldn't be Chryst. Is it Costello? Now would be a nice time to find out.

And of course the high-end recruits who might propel Stanford to the playoff in future years might be watching the game. Was that a good advertisement for them?

So while maybe this game might not matter much in the grand playoff scheme of things, you need to play every game as if it's an opportunity to advance the chess pieces towards that goal. That didn't reach that standard.
[/quote]

excellent post!

[phxfan]

[quote author=ChicagoTree link=topic=17793.msg208507#msg208507 date=1509080271]
How did national championship become a topic in the context of this game, or season? Classic troll move.

I dunno, it's not a crazy thing to wonder about. Shaw himself has talked about how playoffs are an aspiration for him and the team. It's the one thing he hasn't accomplished. I'd be frankly a bit disturbed if he weren't thinking about playoffs.

Now maybe this particular season it shouldn't be the aspiration -- but then again, 538 estimates, IIRC, a two-thirds chance for reaching the playoff if the team wins out. So there's a chance.

Then there's the future. It's unlikely, but if every draft-eligible player returned for 2018, it'd be a super-experienced team on both sides of the ball. Who'll be the right QB for that team? It shouldn't be Chryst. Is it Costello? Now would be a nice time to find out.

And of course the high-end recruits who might propel Stanford to the playoff in future years might be watching the game. Was that a good advertisement for them?

So while maybe this game might not matter much in the grand playoff scheme of things, you need to play every game as if it's an opportunity to advance the chess pieces towards that goal. That didn't reach that standard.
[/quote]

excellent post!