[81alum]

I am thrilled for the team and their position at the top of the conference. But the final record has definitely been enhanced by the schedule. Stanford only played 6 games vs. the other top 6 teams (USC, UCLA, Utah, Colorado, OSU). In contrast, USC, UCLA, Utah, Colorado and Oregon State played 9 games vs. the other top 6 for them. Those 3 games likely helped to separate Stanford from the pack.

Yes, I've thought a lot about this and wonder what our record would have been had we played USC, UCLA, Colorado, and Utah twice each.  My guess is we might have a couple more losses.  Which is why winning by 2 games over the nearest competition in league play would be sweet.  Of course, those four teams are all happy they only had to play us once, so it works both ways.

We might well get rematches against one or two of those schools in the Pac 12 tournament; for example, perhaps Colorado in the semis and USC in the final, if we make it that far.  So the tournament may become a fair test.

Tara initially opposed the conference tournament, thinking that its results were more random than the Pac 10 round robin schedule.  And I agreed. But now, with an unbalanced schedule in the league, the tournament may be more meaningful.  And we may have to beat teams that have already beaten us once.  Fair enough.

[81alum]

I am thrilled for the team and their position at the top of the conference. But the final record has definitely been enhanced by the schedule. Stanford only played 6 games vs. the other top 6 teams (USC, UCLA, Utah, Colorado, OSU). In contrast, USC, UCLA, Utah, Colorado and Oregon State played 9 games vs. the other top 6 for them. Those 3 games likely helped to separate Stanford from the pack.

Yes, I've thought a lot about this and wonder what our record would have been had we played USC, UCLA, Colorado, and Utah twice each.  My guess is we might have a couple more losses.  Which is why winning by 2 games over the nearest competition in league play would be sweet.  Of course, those four teams are all happy they only had to play us once, so it works both ways.

We might well get rematches against one or two of those schools in the Pac 12 tournament; for example, perhaps Colorado in the semis and USC in the final, if we make it that far.  So the tournament may become a fair test.

Tara initially opposed the conference tournament, thinking that its results were more random than the Pac 10 round robin schedule.  And I agreed. But now, with an unbalanced schedule in the league, the tournament may be more meaningful.  And we may have to beat teams that have already beaten us once.  Fair enough.