03-10-2016, 03:58 PM
http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/...-in-pac-12
Ted Miller, on which team has the fewest question marks going into the spring:
Sorry for the extended quotation, but high praise indeed.
BC
Ted Miller, on which team has the fewest question marks going into the spring:
Quote:And, therein, lies the grounds for my pick: Stanford. The Cardinal have done it, over and over again. Even when Stanford doesn't win the North, it finds a way into the rankings. When it slips to 8-5 and has a few people (embarrassed cough) wondering if the pillars of the Cardinal Acropolis are showing cracks, it immediately reverses course, goes 12-2 and wins the Rose Bowl.
Stanford is replacing 14-year starter Kevin Hogan? Well, it replaced Andrew Luck and crops continued to flourish on The Farm. Stanford has questions on the offensive and defensive lines? Yeah, and Taylor Swift is surely out of inspiration for insufferably catchy pop songs.
Is the Stanford culture still there? Yes. Is celebrated strength coach Shannon Turley still ensconced in his lab like a well-adjusted Dr. Frankenstein? Yes. Is the returning skill talent and overall team speed, topped by Voldemort Trophy runner-up Christian McCaffrey, probably better than it's ever been? Yes.
Is David Shaw still Stanford's coach? Yes. (We probably should have saved time by starting and finishing with that Q&A).
Stanford will be ranked in the preseason top 10 and it will be projected to win the Pac-12. Why?
Because "Stanford" has become a statement, not a question.
Sorry for the extended quotation, but high praise indeed.
BC
