[61_Shasta]

Tom Fornelli from CBS Sports was on one of the local sports stations and called the PAC 12 championship game as Stanford vs. Utah.  Just a few of his observations.

Stanford is the favorite in the north this year
Cardinal is the only team in the north that has a consistent enough defense to win out.
Biggest threat is Cal. Washington very, very dark horse. Oregon defense too porous, WSU, OSU just not enough talent.
Utah/UCLA game on 11/21 could determine the south winner.
UCLA/Stanford realistically the only threat between now and then.
UCLA's defensive depth will be a challenge with Myles Jack out.

So other than cold, how is the weather in SFO the first week in December?

[61_Shasta]

Tom Fornelli from CBS Sports was on one of the local sports stations and called the PAC 12 championship game as Stanford vs. Utah.  Just a few of his observations.

Stanford is the favorite in the north this year
Cardinal is the only team in the north that has a consistent enough defense to win out.
Biggest threat is Cal. Washington very, very dark horse. Oregon defense too porous, WSU, OSU just not enough talent.
Utah/UCLA game on 11/21 could determine the south winner.
UCLA/Stanford realistically the only threat between now and then.
UCLA's defensive depth will be a challenge with Myles Jack out.

So other than cold, how is the weather in SFO the first week in December?

[washingtonismoney]

Cardinal is the only team in the north that has a consistent enough defense to win out.

This may be strictly relative here. Maybe UW has the best D in the division.

[washingtonismoney]

Cardinal is the only team in the north that has a consistent enough defense to win out.

This may be strictly relative here. Maybe UW has the best D in the division.

[stupac2]

So other than cold, how is the weather in SFO the first week in December?

Define "cold". For a night game it might dip into the 40's and it'll probably be windy in Levi's (because it seems to always be windy in Levi's), but it won't be all that bad. From what I've been reading the El Nino rains won't kick in until January, so our December is expected to be fairly dry.

Lotta football to be played before that though.

[stupac2]

So other than cold, how is the weather in SFO the first week in December?

Define "cold". For a night game it might dip into the 40's and it'll probably be windy in Levi's (because it seems to always be windy in Levi's), but it won't be all that bad. From what I've been reading the El Nino rains won't kick in until January, so our December is expected to be fairly dry.

Lotta football to be played before that though.

[61_Shasta]

quote]
Lotta football to be played before that though.
[/quote]

That's very true but I'm pretty sure there's an unwritten rule by the football Gods that allow me to be "blindly enthusiastic fanatic" until somewhere around noon today! 

[61_Shasta]

quote]
Lotta football to be played before that though.
[/quote]

That's very true but I'm pretty sure there's an unwritten rule by the football Gods that allow me to be "blindly enthusiastic fanatic" until somewhere around noon today! 

[French Rage]

I'm not saying all of these predictions won't hold true, but I'd wait until week 6 or so before I put more stock in anything.  At this point, most teams have a whopping one real game under their belt, given that we've just begun conference play and most teams don't reveal much from weak OOC schedules.  We need to graph of who's beaten who to be a little more connected before we really have a feel for anything.

[French Rage]

I'm not saying all of these predictions won't hold true, but I'd wait until week 6 or so before I put more stock in anything.  At this point, most teams have a whopping one real game under their belt, given that we've just begun conference play and most teams don't reveal much from weak OOC schedules.  We need to graph of who's beaten who to be a little more connected before we really have a feel for anything.

[FarmBoy]

Also, note that the game is at Levi's which is in San Jose, not SF. Much more convenient to fly in and out of San Jose than SF, but a lot less interesting to hang out in SJ, although it does have its highlights as well.

[FarmBoy]

Also, note that the game is at Levi's which is in San Jose, not SF. Much more convenient to fly in and out of San Jose than SF, but a lot less interesting to hang out in SJ, although it does have its highlights as well.

[BostonCard]

Tom Fornelli from CBS Sports was on one of the local sports stations and called the PAC 12 championship game as Stanford vs. Utah.  Just a few of his observations.

Stanford is the favorite in the north this year
Cardinal is the only team in the north that has a consistent enough defense to win out.
Biggest threat is Low APR U. Washington very, very dark horse. Oregon defense too porous, WSU, OSU just not enough talent.
Utah/UCLA game on 11/21 could determine the south winner.
UCLA/Stanford realistically the only threat between now and then.
UCLA's defensive depth will be a challenge with Myles Jack out.

So other than cold, how is the weather in SFO the first week in December?

COuld well be, but it is all predicated on our duct tape and bailing wire defensive line.  We could seriously run out of bodies to put up there.

BC

[BostonCard]

Tom Fornelli from CBS Sports was on one of the local sports stations and called the PAC 12 championship game as Stanford vs. Utah.  Just a few of his observations.

Stanford is the favorite in the north this year
Cardinal is the only team in the north that has a consistent enough defense to win out.
Biggest threat is Low APR U. Washington very, very dark horse. Oregon defense too porous, WSU, OSU just not enough talent.
Utah/UCLA game on 11/21 could determine the south winner.
UCLA/Stanford realistically the only threat between now and then.
UCLA's defensive depth will be a challenge with Myles Jack out.

So other than cold, how is the weather in SFO the first week in December?

COuld well be, but it is all predicated on our duct tape and bailing wire defensive line.  We could seriously run out of bodies to put up there.

BC

[Leftcoast]

I attended last year's  Pac 12 Championship game to watch Oregon bludgeon Arizona and weather was only a small factor despite two days of California-only worry.  (We're very unfamiliar with the concept of water falling from the skies these days.)

It threatened rain pre-game but was mostly fine during the course of play - I believe it sprinkled lightly for 5 minutes right before half-time.  I carried in a light sweater and a wind breaker and barely needed them.  If you live in Utah you'd consider it an extremely ordinary late fall day and laugh at the concerned Californians.

[Leftcoast]

I attended last year's  Pac 12 Championship game to watch Oregon bludgeon Arizona and weather was only a small factor despite two days of California-only worry.  (We're very unfamiliar with the concept of water falling from the skies these days.)

It threatened rain pre-game but was mostly fine during the course of play - I believe it sprinkled lightly for 5 minutes right before half-time.  I carried in a light sweater and a wind breaker and barely needed them.  If you live in Utah you'd consider it an extremely ordinary late fall day and laugh at the concerned Californians.

[fullmetal]

[quote author=61_Shasta link=topic=12962.msg131399#msg131399 date=1443456853]
Cardinal is the only team in the north that has a consistent enough defense to win out.

This may be strictly relative here. Maybe UW has the best D in the division.
[/quote]

They did lost to kal and Boise St.  One has to wonder.

[fullmetal]

[quote author=61_Shasta link=topic=12962.msg131399#msg131399 date=1443456853]
Cardinal is the only team in the north that has a consistent enough defense to win out.

This may be strictly relative here. Maybe UW has the best D in the division.
[/quote]

They did lost to kal and Boise St.  One has to wonder.

[CTcard]

[quote author=61_Shasta link=topic=12962.msg131399#msg131399 date=1443456853]
Cardinal is the only team in the north that has a consistent enough defense to win out.

This may be strictly relative here. Maybe UW has the best D in the division.
[/quote]

Well, my first observation is that defense seems in short supply this year across the board.

UW has the best defensive raw stats - lead the conference in yds/game allowed and yds/play. [Stanford 2nd/4th, OSU 2nd/6th, UCLA 5th/2nd]

The advanced stat based ratings differ a bit. These supposedly look at strength of the competition and drive by drive situations.
Football Outsiders has the following for their S%P+ national rankings:
Stanford 13th
UCLA      18th
UW        23rd
ASU      30th
OSU      31st
Utah      35th
Oregon  58th
$C        61st
CU        68th
c.a.l.      84th
UA        94th
WSU      99th

Bad defenses tend to lead to blow outs quickly because teams can't recover from mistakes. Thus we saw ASU crushed by $C despite even up on yards from scrimmage, UA crushed by UCLA despite almost even on yards (468-497), even Utah wasn't that far ahead of the duckies on yards from scrimmage (530-400).

So, I am not quite ready to write off any of the blow-out losers from last weekend ... but we ought to be able to move the ball a bit on the kitty kats.

[CTcard]

[quote author=61_Shasta link=topic=12962.msg131399#msg131399 date=1443456853]
Cardinal is the only team in the north that has a consistent enough defense to win out.

This may be strictly relative here. Maybe UW has the best D in the division.
[/quote]

Well, my first observation is that defense seems in short supply this year across the board.

UW has the best defensive raw stats - lead the conference in yds/game allowed and yds/play. [Stanford 2nd/4th, OSU 2nd/6th, UCLA 5th/2nd]

The advanced stat based ratings differ a bit. These supposedly look at strength of the competition and drive by drive situations.
Football Outsiders has the following for their S%P+ national rankings:
Stanford 13th
UCLA      18th
UW        23rd
ASU      30th
OSU      31st
Utah      35th
Oregon  58th
$C        61st
CU        68th
c.a.l.      84th
UA        94th
WSU      99th

Bad defenses tend to lead to blow outs quickly because teams can't recover from mistakes. Thus we saw ASU crushed by $C despite even up on yards from scrimmage, UA crushed by UCLA despite almost even on yards (468-497), even Utah wasn't that far ahead of the duckies on yards from scrimmage (530-400).

So, I am not quite ready to write off any of the blow-out losers from last weekend ... but we ought to be able to move the ball a bit on the kitty kats.