Stanford is on the edge. The Cardinals sit at No.7 in the College Football Playoff rankings and a win plus another team losing could mean they are in for postseason play. However, the Cardinals cannot afford to get ahead of themselves just yet as they must take care of what they can control which is facing Southern Cal in the Pac-12 championship game which has plenty on the line.
Stanford got off to a shaky start at the beginning of the year when they fell to Northwestern on the road to open things up. However, the rebounded in a big way despite a loss to Oregon and now they are fighting for a spot in the College Football Playoffs. They certainly have plenty of momentum after upsetting Notre Dame last week win a winning field goal and they will need that to be the Trojans. USC's season looked to be over when the team was facing all kinds of drama with the departure of Steve Sarkisian. However, Clay Helton turned things around and has since been rewarded with the full-time gig. This will be his chance to prove he can handle things in the Pac-12 game.
Stanford will certainly be watching all of the games on Saturday. If anyone were to lose, they could be in. The winner of the Iowa-Michigan State game is a lock to go so the Cardinals must hope either Alabama or Clemson slip up in their championship games to open a space for them to move in. Oklahoma is the other lock to head into the postseason. No win percentage will take place for this. It is win and get in.
The pressure is on Stanford more than USC who has no chance ranked No.20. Kevin Hogan has a chance to go out in a big way as he needs a great game to increase Stanford's chances. The starting quarterback has certainly had a career to hang his hat on ranking first in wins for Stanford quarterbacks while a conference title would be a nice way to end things.
"There's so much going on in the next week and whatever the chips may fall after that, you can't really pause and think back yet," Hogan said, via ESPN.com. "I love the guys and all our focus is on the next one, as it should be."
While Hogan needs to be good, the real star of the team is Christian McCaffrey who has shot into Heisman contention. The running back will finish as the NCAA leader in rushing while chasing Barry Sanders' all-time record. McCaffrey has a chance to up his shot at the trophy in this game.
The Trojans have their own star rushing game as the team have outrushed all of their opponents by an average of 263 yards. Justin Davis is looking strong averaging 17.5 carries per game. He has paired well with Cody Kessler who has been thriving towards the end of his senior season. The two will be critical in USC getting the upset win.
