Sept. 7Â Â San Jose State
Sept. 14Â at Army
Sept. 21Â Arizona State
Sept. 28Â at Washington State (in Seattle)
Oct. 5Â Â Â Washington
Oct. 12Â Â at Utah
Oct. 19Â Â UCLA
Oct. 26Â Â at Oregon State
Nov. 2Â Â Â Bye
Nov. 7Â Â Â Oregon (Thursday)
Nov. 16Â Â at U.S.C.
Nov. 23Â Â California
Nov. 30Â Â NotreDame
A few thoughts --
Ten teams in the conference have games scheduled on August 31, so Stanford is getting a late start. Fortunately, our first conference opponent, Arizona State, also is getting a late start, so we will be on equal footing with them when we play them on Sept. 21.
The Arizona State home game on Sept. 21 will be on freshman orientation weekend, which is nice for the students. So there will be only one home game before students start arriving on campus. Much better than this year's schedule.
I'm definitely making the road trip to Army on Sept. 14. The Utah game on Oct. 12 seems like a great opportunity for another road trip.
I don't like Thursday games. But I guess that ship has sailed.
The four biggest games of the season in terms of hype, anticipation, and rivalry come in four consecutive weeks at the end of the season. It's hard to bring the highest level of intensity for four straight weeks. When we had the same schedule in 2009, we had two brobdingnagian wins against Oregon and U.S.C., but then dropped a game we should have won against California. That will be an interesting stretch of the season for us. . . .
Sept. 14Â at Army
Sept. 21Â Arizona State
Sept. 28Â at Washington State (in Seattle)
Oct. 5Â Â Â Washington
Oct. 12Â Â at Utah
Oct. 19Â Â UCLA
Oct. 26Â Â at Oregon State
Nov. 2Â Â Â Bye
Nov. 7Â Â Â Oregon (Thursday)
Nov. 16Â Â at U.S.C.
Nov. 23Â Â California
Nov. 30Â Â NotreDame
A few thoughts --
Ten teams in the conference have games scheduled on August 31, so Stanford is getting a late start. Fortunately, our first conference opponent, Arizona State, also is getting a late start, so we will be on equal footing with them when we play them on Sept. 21.
The Arizona State home game on Sept. 21 will be on freshman orientation weekend, which is nice for the students. So there will be only one home game before students start arriving on campus. Much better than this year's schedule.
I'm definitely making the road trip to Army on Sept. 14. The Utah game on Oct. 12 seems like a great opportunity for another road trip.
I don't like Thursday games. But I guess that ship has sailed.
The four biggest games of the season in terms of hype, anticipation, and rivalry come in four consecutive weeks at the end of the season. It's hard to bring the highest level of intensity for four straight weeks. When we had the same schedule in 2009, we had two brobdingnagian wins against Oregon and U.S.C., but then dropped a game we should have won against California. That will be an interesting stretch of the season for us. . . .