Not just Ohio State. Penn State would have also finished ahead of Wisconsin, and the reasons for placing them on probation (heinous as those events were) had very little to do with current football-related events. I guess that's why the Pennsylvania governor is suing the NCAA. That's going to be an interesting situation...

Wisconsin acquitted themselves well. By the way, the stadium was 75% Stanford fans.

I guess we all look alike to the FN folks...

Don't blame Wisky for winning. Blame Nebraska for losing. They were highly ranked, after all.

Money. The school didn't have any; Embree was an alum and could be had on the cheap. But very soon now they'll have lots of money. I think Embree will get his third year and then he'll be gone if he doesn't show any sign of progress.

Shaw was Harbaugh's offensive coordinator. He recruited a lot of the Stanford players himself. And unlike schools in the SEC, Stanford isn't going to fire him if the team goes from 11/12 wins a season (like the last two years) to 7/8 wins a season. They want a winning team, they want to contend for the Rose Bowl and all that. But it's not the highest priority for them. If he runs a clean program, graduates his players and averages 8 wins a season Shaw will be there a very long time.

Stanford really is different. Spend some time there and it's pretty obvious.

Shaw has one good point in all this. Stanford doesn't have the quality of receivers that Barkley does, and that definitely works against Luck. And yeah, Luck might do more in terms of running the offense and calling his own plays, but that sort of thing isn't readily apparent to the fan (and voter) watching at home on TV.

Now, having said all that, and even with my Stanford bias-- RG3 deserves the Heisman. Statistically the kid is insane, and Baylor is a 2 or 3 win team without him.

As will I. Stanford needs Zach Ertz back, badly. That's not the reason the SC game was close (because SC played great and no one should make excuses to try to take away from that--hear that, LK?) but Ertz is a big part of the offense and they'll need him against Oregon. Win or lose, if the Stanford - Oregon game is as good as the Stanford - USC game we'll be in for another great Saturday evening.

Once again, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Oregon has to travel to Seattle this week to play the final game in Husky Stadium before it closes for the next two years for renovations. The Washington - Oregon rival has gotten extremely ugly in recent years and anything can happen there. Stanford has to go to Oregon State, and while that shouldn't be much of a challenge on paper they did just play a grueling 3OT road game. They could struggle this week, as the Beavers don't just phone it in.

No predictions yet... we'll see when the "Next Best 3" comes out later this week.

So you did... sorry for going off there. :)

Then you haven't been paying attention... thus far Stanford has statistically outplayed Oregon. Granted, they have no common opponents yet. But if James isn't back in time for the game it will really be advantage Stanford. Either way, Stanford plays the toughest defense in the conference. The offense isn't shabby either. In last year's game in Eugene, Stanford jumped out to a 21-3 lead before Oregon's offense rode the home field advantage to a come from behind win. This year's game will be in Palo Alto. It will be a sell out, and it will be like a Stanford game of old. I think Stanford will have the edge this time. (Damn, I just wrote half of the "Next Best 3" column for that week...)

In any case we're all being very premature. USC and Washington will not be easy outs for either team. In particular Oregon - Washington is one of the nastiest games in the conference every year. And this year it will be in Seattle, in the final game at Husky Stadium before it closes for a two year renovation. I think UW will be up for that one... especially since, as of now, they still have a chance to win the North.

I disagree. When they have the choice, the Rose Bowl will *always* take the Pac-12 and Big Ten champions. So if Stanford or Oregon make the NCG the other will face the Big Ten champ in the Rose Bowl. So it all depends on this year's BCS selection order.

Just what the SEC needs. . . A third set of Tigers.

I'd have to say there's no chance the Pac 12 takes the OK schools now. When they were part of a package deal to lure Texas, sure. But not now. They'd be a heck of a way to remake the Mountain West though. Hmm... a Big 12 - Mountain West merger? Something to consider if TAMU forces a breakup.

I'm old and forgot they moved? LOL!

Seriously, that was just a stupid brain fart. But ND, Syracuse, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and West Virginia wouldn't be a bad alignment.

I mean the Texas television market. Sure, UT dominates but the SEC has no representation there at all right now. TAMU has a huge following in Texas, and adding them to the SEC will bring a lot of new eyeballs for that new TV contract they'll be hoping to get. (or more, if they follow the lead of the Pac 12 and try to create regional conference networks to go along with a future, hypothetical SEC network)

I hate being late to the good ones. ;-)

Yeah, the old 16 team WAC did this. It didn't help them much but geography is what ultimately did them in. They just covered too much area.

I don't see Notre Dame being interested in the Big 12 at all. They've turned down invites from the Big 10, and play all other sports in the Big East. If they were to join the Big East they would dominate that conference and renew their rivalry with the "criminals" from the U. (of Miami)

Should the SEC take TAMU for the Texas market they'd want to balance that with another team in the east. Others have suggested Florida State and that would be a good choice, even though they already own the Florida market. Heck, Virginia Tech wouldn't be a bad choice, and they could deliver the DC market. If there's a conference pecking order you have to figure the SEC as the top dog, and schools that put football first would jump at the chance to join. The Big 12 is way lower on the pecking order. They'd never get Arky to leave the SEC. ND wouldn't want to play second fiddle to Texas and OK. Their best bet would be to raid the Mountain West plus BYU. Take your pick from Air Force, Colorado State, or New Mexico. From that list I'd say Air Force is the best candidate.

Shaw is a Stanford alum and played football there. He knows what a special place it is. It's not an accident that all those other Stanford coaches have stayed there as long as they have. Don't you think another school would make a run at Tara VanDevere if they thought she'd be open to leaving? Or Mark Marquess? I guarantee you Mike Montgomery regrets leaving to coach the Golden State Warriors. Sure, he's at Cal now, and that's fine. But it's not the same by a long shot.

Stanford fans know we'll never be a perennial powerhouse in football. But we do want to be competitive. If Shaw can keep the team in the upper third of the Pac 12 and going to bowl games --and more importantly, keep his kids on track academically and graduating -- we'll be happy. The occasional year like this year will be gravy. I think he's a good hire and I wish him the best.

No, no no! The musical is The Cleveland Horror Football Show. You know...

Gridiron Football Double Feature
Michael Holmgren will build a creature
Mangina fighting Colt and Wallace
Jake Delhomme stars in "Pick 6 Menace"
Oh-oh-oh at the mid-day almost football feature show
Don't want to go to the mid-day almost football feature show

Now Dallas, that's a whole 'nother level of musical theater.

Oooh. You know, I might just explode from the mass of conflicting feelings this game will cause.

Logically I should root for Cal (!) because it will be better for the conference if USC loses and we have another strong team that can actually go to a bowl. Plus it will be better for Stanford should we win Big Game later this year. But I just can't do it. And rooting for USC, well, that's just wrong on so many levels. :-)

One thing is for sure... I will NOT be watching.

In all seriousness though, a strong SC is good for the conference too. The sooner you're off sanctions the better. Oh, and be sure to crush Notre Dame. On that I'm sure we can all agree.

Oddly enough, I love "Tusk". I still can't stand hearing "Fight On" played in the stadium. In all honesty though, I suspect that's because USC used to score on us so much I had to listen to it all the time.

I respect all of the Pac-10 programs (guess I'm just strange that way) but there are two that I struggle to root for even when they're playing out of conference. Still, you should feel fortunate. I only loathe USC. However I despise Cal. ;-)

Oh please. It's easier to visit San Francisco when you play the Dirty Golden Bears. USC has never cared about playing Stanford. We were always just another automatic "W" to you guys. As for the "traditional beatdown on the Cardinal" how's that working out lately? Harbaugh kind of owns you.

I'll stop now, lest I invoke the wrath of the Woof Gods. They can be hearty and boon travel companions, but toy with them at your peril. SC fans have only to look at last week for proof.

Ah yes, the monotonous strains of "Fight On". The Stanford Band used to play it too...skipping in the middle, like the broken record it is. It does seem to be the only tune the SC band can play.