06-07-2013, 12:00 PM
"It is not an insignficant handicap, IMO, but still worth the "risk"
In my opinion, it is worth the risk if Stanford has indeed overcome some of the factors that have put them in the middle of the pack in most years. UCLA is on the rise and USC will not be down for long. If Stanford reverts to it's traditional norm it could start a downward spiral. Going to a bowl game gives a school a tremendous advantage. Bowl games help recruiting, sells season tickets, and gives a team another two weeks of practice for the next season. On average Stanford has won slightly over 50% of it's games over the last 50 years. If Stanford reverts to this level of play and loses one more game than they would by not playing an LA school, then a cascade could be initiated that eventually results in a new lower norm. All it takes is the head of admissions raising the standard, an AD who refuses to pay market value for coaches, a few recruits changing their mind at the last minute, an AD who values friendship more than performance, administrators who don't want to see Stanford turn into a football factory, a decrease in alumni donations, a rash of injuries, academic casualties, a few balls bouncing the wrong way, some bad referee calls... How quickly we forget when wearing rose bowl shades!
In my opinion, it is worth the risk if Stanford has indeed overcome some of the factors that have put them in the middle of the pack in most years. UCLA is on the rise and USC will not be down for long. If Stanford reverts to it's traditional norm it could start a downward spiral. Going to a bowl game gives a school a tremendous advantage. Bowl games help recruiting, sells season tickets, and gives a team another two weeks of practice for the next season. On average Stanford has won slightly over 50% of it's games over the last 50 years. If Stanford reverts to this level of play and loses one more game than they would by not playing an LA school, then a cascade could be initiated that eventually results in a new lower norm. All it takes is the head of admissions raising the standard, an AD who refuses to pay market value for coaches, a few recruits changing their mind at the last minute, an AD who values friendship more than performance, administrators who don't want to see Stanford turn into a football factory, a decrease in alumni donations, a rash of injuries, academic casualties, a few balls bouncing the wrong way, some bad referee calls... How quickly we forget when wearing rose bowl shades!