I’m still not exactly sure how they pulled it off.
Quarterback instability? (check)
Dinged up star player? (check)
Struggling pass rush? (check)
Inability to get the defense off the field? (check)
Poor Red Zone defense? (check)
Smugness factor on the sideline? (check, check, check.)
Yet, despite all that was going against them, the Stanford Cardinal still managed to come away with the North division. It was their fourth North championship in the last six years.
We’ll save our analysis on how much damage it did to the perception of the league to have such a flawed division champ emerge out of the PAC for another day.