Which Stanford Games Are the Most Winnable Down the Stretch?

With Week 6 of college football wrapped up, the Stanford Cardinal have played in five games. They began their season with back-to-back losses against Hawaii and BYU with a bye week in between, where although defense looked strong, but the offense had lots of work to do.

The most recent three games, though, looked much different. Stanford’s offense picked it up, looking fantastic, while the defense has lost their way and struggled. However, the Cardinal won two of their final three games to begin the year 2-3 and 1-1 in ACC play.

Stanford has seven games left on their schedule. They begin this week when they travel to Dallas to take on the SMU Mustangs.

Following, they play Florida State at home for Homecoming. Stanford then travels to Florida to take on the Seminoles' rival, Miami. This will be the toughest three-game stretch of the season for the Cardinal. Stanford then hosts Pitt before going on the road to North Carolina. They end the season hosting back-to-back rivalry games against Cal and Notre Dame.

Before the season, most of these games looked extremely tough, but as the season has gone on, many games have become more winnable. Let’s put these teams into three categories: Probable wins, 50/50 games, and probable losses.

Probable wins

Pitt: In what looked like more of a 50/50 game preseason, it's now looking more like it will be tough for Pitt to go on the road and play on The Farm. Especially considering a few tough outings, like losses to Louisville and more notably West Virginia. With starting quarterback Eli Holstein benched, we'll have to see how their QB situation looks in the future over the next few weeks.

North Carolina: The Tar Heels have become the laughing stock of college football. After the signing of Bill Belichick to be their head coach, many looked at UNC as a top contender in the ACC. But disastrous performances against TCU, UCF, and Clemson have made them look like a program with a lot of work to be done.

To add, even though conference realignment has made Stanford look poor on the road in all sports, they did beat North Carolina in basketball and baseball as heavy underdogs, both in Chapel Hill.

The one bit that could make this game tricky is that North Carolina will have over a month before this game is played, which could have them looking like a different team than they do now. Sometimes it's not who you play, but when you play them.

50/50 games

Cal: The Golden Bears have been very on and off this season. Wins against Minnesota and Boston College build their resume, but embarrassing losses against San Diego State and Duke show that they may not be that good. If they continue to rely on true freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, Cal could have issues on The Farm late in the season.

These games are typically close, but with Stanford taking a step forward this year and playing at home, that makes this a 50/50 matchup.

Probable losses

SMU: The Mustangs lost a lot in the offseason following their College Football Playoff appearance, and have undoubtedly had a poor start to the year after taking L’s against Baylor and TCU. However, SMU still is almost a three touchdown favorite, and should win regardless of their poor start.

Florida State: It will be Homecoming and a long trip for the Seminoles, which gives Stanford a chance, but it’s unrealistic to say that the Cardinal have done enough to beat Florida State just yet. They're still ranked No. 25 in the nation after all.

Miami: The Hurricanes look like one of the best teams in the country right now. With Stanford going on the road, traveling to the east coast, it’s going to be about as tough of a game as possible. This one could be the least winnable on the Cardinal schedule.

Notre Dame: Stanford has the Irish’s number, and occasionally finds a big upset victory over them, but it’s obviously not going to be easy. In any rivalry though, anything is possible.