Stanford Football: 5 reasons why Cardinal will stink in 2017
By Zach Bigalke
1. Stanford has no guarantee in Pac-12 North race
Ultimately, there are no guarantees in the Pac-12 North. Stanford painfully learned that lesson last season as both Washington schools surpassed them in the division standings. This year’s schedule does the Cardinal few favors as they strive to return to the top of the conference.
Fresh off its season opener against Rice in Sydney, Australia, David Shaw‘s team must travel to face Southern California at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 9. They also face tough road tests at Utah in October and at Washington State in November. After the game in Pullman, Stanford has a short turnaround for a Friday-night home game against Washington.
In inter-divisional play, the Cardinal won’t play Arizona and Colorado this season. Missing out on the Wildcats could hurt in terms of losing the near-guaranteed victory from the schedule. With the Buffaloes also expected to regress after last year’s divisional championship, those are two contests that would have benefited Stanford in a tight race.
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Washington avoids Arizona and USC. Washington State doesn’t have to play UCLA or Arizona State. The Cardinal will still be in the thick of things. But it would really stink for Shaw’s crew if they miss out on the division title because of the unbalanced schedule.