Stanford Football: 5 reasons the Cardinal will upset Washington in Week 11

Stanford football will host Washington in Week 11 and here’s why the Cardinal can pull off the upset of the No. 9 Huskies.

It’s been an up-and-down season for Stanford football and it’s about to get interesting as No. 9 Washington comes to town with its playoff hopes on the line. Not just that, but the Huskies and Cardinal are both playing for Pac-12 North supremacy.

A win for Stanford would set up a three-way tie for first place with tie-breakers being the difference if it were to stay that way — although it couldn’t as Washington and Washington State play each other in the final week of the year.

Stanford has the opportunity to pull off a major upset and get back into the New Year’s Six conversation by adding a win to Washington to its resume. Couple that with wins over Cal and No. 3 Notre Dame to end the year and you have a 9-3 team from the Pac-12 playing for its conference title. How could you leave it out of the New Year’s Six conversation?

Here’s why the Cardinal will upset the Washington Huskies in Week 11.

5. Unbeaten at home

Stanford hasn’t lost a single game at home this season, going 3-0. In fact, the Cardinal have won their last five games in Palo Alto and you can’t expect that to change Friday. They have played ranked teams tough at home under David Shaw, winning their last two dating back to 2015.

That may not seem like a big deal, but being at home in the Pac-12 at night usually yields some wild action, especially for the underdog. The weekly “Pac-12 After Dark” instillations have been relatively crazy this season and that’s not going to change this week.

Stanford gets to host a Pac-12 After Dark special and Washington is walking into it as an unsuspecting visitor. The Cardinal are coming off a road loss against Washington’s in-state foe Washington State and the Huskies might think this will be a walk in the park. The Cardinal will remain unbeaten at home.