Stanford Will Play Oklahoma State in Fiesta Bowl

by Scott Allen on Dec 4, 2025 5:33 PM PST

Stanford finished No. 4 in the final BCS standings and, as expected, will play Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2. LSU and Alabama will meet in the most boring title game of all time. The BCS still sucks, but congratulations to the Cardinal. I would've liked to have seen Stanford get a shot at the Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl, but it'll be fun whoopin' up on the Cowboys. Discuss...

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LOL @ Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl

$$$$$$

by Scott Allen on Dec 4, 2025 5:37 PM PST reply actions

K-State go royally screwed

by Euler on Dec 4, 2025 5:45 PM PST up reply actions

Yep, and Michigan State, Boise State...

What a joke.

by Scott Allen on Dec 4, 2025 5:46 PM PST up reply actions

And Boise st

Poor Kellen Moore. It’s only about the money…
They need to fix this crap.

by Euler on Dec 4, 2025 5:47 PM PST up reply actions

K-State got screwed? I think not. Their record is shiny ...

… but take a closer look at the circumstances of most of those wins and maybe you aren’t quite as impressed. VT is just as legit a choice and a logical one given the other factors.

Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
@chrislandon

by Gekko Mojo on Dec 4, 2025 7:23 PM PST up reply actions

Not really

They finished with a marginally better record while playing a comically easier schedule. The ACC was terrible this year, just terrible. In football terms, there’s basically no support for the proposition that Virginia Tech was on a par with K-State.

However, bowl selection committees don’t have to (and frequently don’t) pick teams on a merit basis.

As it happens, the Cotton Bowl is probably a better matchup anyway, and at least comparable in terms of public profile/history/hype/etc. to the Orange Bowl, so I’m not sure how much it really hurt them in this instance.

"We don't want our people to be preoccupied with seminude, crazy men jumping up and down who are chasing an inflated object," said Sheik Mohamed Osman Arus, head of operations for the Hizbul Islam insurgent group.

by PaulThomas on Dec 4, 2025 9:47 PM PST up reply actions

Totally absurd.

by jksnake99 on Dec 4, 2025 5:50 PM PST up reply actions

Thank God for the Rule of 4.

I’m not sure we get the Fiesta Bowl otherwise…

by STRID340 on Dec 4, 2025 6:32 PM PST up reply actions

Advice to gamblers:

Take the over.

by dth1 on Dec 4, 2025 5:48 PM PST reply actions

Why is everyone saying that OkSt is like Oregon?

I keep hearing that the Cardinal match up poorly against Oklahoma State because they play like Oregon, but with better passing.

They look quite different to me. To begin with, OkSt’s defense is worse.
And they don’t as much speed. Their passing might burn Stanford’s soft coverage though…
I can only only hope that a healthy Stanford will play better than lately.

by Euler on Dec 4, 2025 5:52 PM PST reply actions

Yeah, the only similarity is that both have outstanding offenses. It will be a more comfortable matchup for Stanford without Oregon’s hurry-up style, but Stanford will definitely need to play quite a bit better than they have down the stretch.

by jksnake99 on Dec 4, 2025 5:54 PM PST up reply actions

Oklahoma State plays pretty fast too

Oregon had 951 plays this year; Oklahoma State had 930.

Difference is that OK State goes mainly through the air; Oregon mostly by the ground.

by dth1 on Dec 4, 2025 6:03 PM PST up reply actions

Isn’t going it through the air going to be slower in real time, since incompletes stop the clock?

by stupac2 on Dec 4, 2025 6:17 PM PST up reply actions

Yes

But then again, by the same token, oftentimes a short busted run will slow down Oregon. They both have good tempo.

by dth1 on Dec 4, 2025 6:23 PM PST up reply actions

the clock stopping doesn't change the time between plays

So, no, it really doesn’t effect the tempo outside of the refs maybe taking a little longer to get the ball down.

Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
@chrislandon

by Gekko Mojo on Dec 4, 2025 7:25 PM PST up reply actions

Thanks for pulling up those stats. Its closer than I realized.

by jksnake99 on Dec 4, 2025 6:25 PM PST up reply actions

Weeden is nowhere near as mobile as Thomas.

"I... am a librarian." - Evelyn from "The Mummy"

by Anonymous IV at Mono Lake on Dec 4, 2025 6:28 PM PST up reply actions

and Thomas can't throw nowhere near as well as Weeden

… and the Ducks don’t have any receiver that remotely looks like Blackmon. This kid has 3000 yds and 35 TDs over the past two years. He can light it up.

Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
@chrislandon

by Gekko Mojo on Dec 4, 2025 7:26 PM PST up reply actions

Most of the year, I thought Oklahoma State was a top 10 team, but wasn’t sure they were top 5. I was dead wrong. The Cowboys are way more better than I thought at midseason, and had a decent case over Alabama. They will be favored over Stanford, and rightly so. I still think Stanford has a decent shot, though, and looking forward to the game.

by jksnake99 on Dec 4, 2025 5:53 PM PST reply actions

I can't believe I typed "way more better"

I have my share of typos, but that is pretty terrible.

by jksnake99 on Dec 4, 2025 6:26 PM PST up reply actions

That's ok

just put down the celebratory bottle of Champagne before you drive home.

by jterry94 on Dec 4, 2025 8:23 PM PST up reply actions

I believe in the South it's pronounced "mo' betta'"

by PaulThomas on Dec 4, 2025 9:39 PM PST up reply actions

The thing with Weeden

If his line holds up, he is near perfect. When he’s under pressure on the blitz or forced on the run, that’s where the problems come up. For some reason, Iowa State was able to solve that O-line and put a lot of pressure on him, causing picks, incompletes, and running (I’m not sure if there were any injuries).

For me, the two stories of this game will be:
- How does Stanford’s defense respond to Justin Blackmon and put pressure on Weeden?
- Since it’s pretty clear that both offenses will score, who’s defense is more stout, whether against the opponent’s run (Stanford) or on the pass (Oklahoma State)?

For reference, it might be beneficial to check out what Arizona did to them the past two years. Arizona is a passing team with little defense and they couldn’t move the ball either this year or in the Alamo Bowl while giving up huge plays to the Cowboys. In the Big 12, if you could run the ball against them and shut down their run game, you had an extremely good chance of winning (A&M lost 29-30 despite 162 yards on the ground to OSU’s 46 while ISU had 192 rushing yards to OSU’s 60 in their 2OT win; the Cowboys out passed them by about 115 yards average in both games).

by RedOscar on Dec 4, 2025 6:59 PM PST reply actions