Louisville is the far superior squad. Yet there is reason to believe Stanford can stay within this generous spot. The 'Ville last played a home game Oct. 19. This is the third straight roadie, with a bye mixed in. Stanford needed its bye badly, allowing for a reset after several one-sided losses and for most key injured players to heal. It's a small sample, but second-year Stanford coach Troy Taylor is unbeaten following a bye with the Cardinal and at his previous stop. They can keep the travel-weary Cardinals within range.

This recommendation belongs in the ultra-contrarian file, as there isn't much reason, outwardly at least, to give Stanford much consideration, having not won a game since mid-September. No matter, last week's bye and the ability to stay home rather than endure another week of grueling ACC travel might act as a refresher of sorts for the Cardinal, especially as Troy Taylor used early-season starter Ashton Daniels, the only QB who has won a game for Stanford this season, in the most-recent loss at NC State. in tandem with run-first Justin Lamson, This preference is also just as much of a belief that the 'Ville won't bring its A game to Palo Alto after a succession of challenging dates. Play Stanford