[Papa John]

Speaking of schedules, I took a glance at the first two games scheduled for each FBS opponent *this* year. A lot has been made about Stanford playing 12 regular season Power 5 opponents, but that's not all that separates us from our Power 5 brethren.

Only two other Power 5 teams have played Power 5 opponents *in their first two games*! That would be Iowa, who defeated Indiana and Iowa State--impressive!--and tOSU, who defeated Minnesota but lost to Oregon. However, both schools play Group of 5 opponents this Saturday, so their opening Power 5 streaks will end at 2.

Now granted, a number of Group of 5 teams are very good, e.g. #8 Cincinnati, #16 Coastal Carolina, #23 BYU. And some Power 5 teams are likely very bad, e.g. Vanderbilt. But this is still a pretty remarkable distinction for Stanford, IMO.

So, this year, Stanford will be the only Power 5 team to play all Power 5 opponents in its *first three* games. Stanford will also be the only Power 5 team to play its first three games on the road.

[Papa John]

Speaking of schedules, I took a glance at the first two games scheduled for each FBS opponent *this* year. A lot has been made about Stanford playing 12 regular season Power 5 opponents, but that's not all that separates us from our Power 5 brethren.

Only two other Power 5 teams have played Power 5 opponents *in their first two games*! That would be Iowa, who defeated Indiana and Iowa State--impressive!--and tOSU, who defeated Minnesota but lost to Oregon. However, both schools play Group of 5 opponents this Saturday, so their opening Power 5 streaks will end at 2.

Now granted, a number of Group of 5 teams are very good, e.g. #8 Cincinnati, #16 Coastal Carolina, #23 BYU. And some Power 5 teams are likely very bad, e.g. Vanderbilt. But this is still a pretty remarkable distinction for Stanford, IMO.

So, this year, Stanford will be the only Power 5 team to play all Power 5 opponents in its *first three* games. Stanford will also be the only Power 5 team to play its first three games on the road.