College Football Top 25 Preview No. 18: Stanford Cardinal

Regular Season Records: 7-5, 10-2, 10-2, 11-1

SRS Rankings: 20, 5, 9, 6

Talking Point: Jim Harbaugh built Stanford. David Shaw kept the good times rolling, with a 25-4 record in the Pac 12 his first three seasons. Last year, the Cardinal fell back to 8-5. Was this a momentary blip? Was this a regression to the mean for a non-traditional football power.

Why To Like Them: Kevin Hogan returns as a fourth-year starter at QB. Joining him are four of last year’s five o-line starters. Big things are expected of RB Christian McCaffrey this season, after he contributed 7-plus yards/carry in limited action as a freshman. Points may be scored. They should have a solid linebacking corps.

Why Not To Like Them: Stanford gets gutted on defense, particularly on the defensive line and in the secondary. Eleven players registered more than two TFL in 2014. Nine of them depart for 2015. Trust the proven defensive staff, but that will be a lot to replace. The Cardinal lose Ty Montgomery their biggest (and often only) big play threat on offense and special teams.

Schedule: Stanford has one of the nation’s toughest non-conference slates. Two of their three games are Notre Dame and a road trip to Northwestern. The Cardinal, thus, play one Non Power 5 opponent: UCF. That said, their conference schedule, by Pac 12 standards, is reasonable. They play five of nine at home. Three of the road games are Oregon State, Washington State and Colorado.

Throwing Darts: Another frustrating season. Stanford is a bit brighter on offense, and a bit looser on defense. Their schedule is a tough slog, week to week. Stanford drops a few close games, has a killer SRS ranking and is the nation’s best 8-4 team.

Random Alum: Julie Foudy