Which teams will suffer due to division-less college football?

5. Stanford has a difficult path to the Pac-12 title game

Under both Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw, the Stanford Cardinal developed a reputation of being a team that might not always be good enough to win the Pac-12 but good enough to ruin another team’s chances. Fans of the farm saw the Cardinal win ten games six of seven seasons from 2010-2016.

Standford reached the pinnacle in 2015, winning the Pac-12 and their second Rose Bowl game. Stanford has won three Pac-12 titles and four division titles and finished second in the division twice since the conference expanded to 12 teams in 2011. The Cardinal has benefited from Washington’s inconsistencies and a down period for Oregon after Chip Kelly’s departure.

Stanford benefits from divisions because it can avoid Utah and USC. Most importantly, Oregon is the only team in the North division consistently good enough to supplant Stanford most years.

The Cardinal have struggled two of the last three seasons. Still, the university has allowed students to enroll during the early signing period, and it has paid off the last couple of recruiting cycles.

Not having divisional play means the Cardinal must compete with USC, Utah, and Oregon to make the title game. UCLA has shown signs of life as well. All four teams also benefit from broader use of the transfer portal and NIL than the Cardinal.