Thursday’s game between Oregon and Stanford obviously has a lot riding on it. The Pac-12 title. The national championship. Individual awards. But the outcome of the game could completely reverse the fortunes of both sides.
As was the case last year.
At the beginning of the night on Nov. 17, Oregon was ranked second in the BCS, two games away from playing for a national championship. Stanford was No. 13 and needed to win out to have a shot at playing in the Rose Bowl.
Midway through the night, No. 1 Kansas State suffered its first loss of the season, paving the way for the Ducks to take over the top spot and all but buy their plane tickets to Miami.
By the end of the night, Oregon’s otherwise proficient offense slowed to a near halt, mustering a season-low 14 points against Stanford’s elite defense. The Ducks missed two field goals. The Cardinal made one. Oregon’s perfect season was no more. Fortunes were reversed.
The implications of Thursday night’s game will be similar. Oregon has a legitimate shot at playing for a championship but needs to finish the regular season undefeated to get there. Five other teams have yet to lose, and with four weeks to go before conference championship games, it’s unlikely that all of them will falter.
Stanford can lose and still make the Pac-12 title game, but a win would give them an outside chance at playing in Pasadena again — this time for the national championship. If Stanford beats Oregon, it will move up from fifth to at least fourth, possibly third, in the BCS standings. With a little help, the Cardinal could back their way into the title game.
If Oregon wins, it will almost certainly leapfrog Florida State in the standings and be a shoo-in to play for it all in January, provided it wins each of its remaining games. Marcus Mariota will have a signature victory to boost his Heisman résumé. If the Ducks lose, they’ll likely end up back in the Fiesta Bowl, watching Stanford play in Pasadena one way or another, as the Cardinal take control of the new-found rivalry and reign supreme as kings of the Pac-12.
We won’t know the final outcome until Thursday night, and no fortune teller will be able to predict it.
Follow Madison Guernsey on Twitter @guernseymd