9. Stanford Cardinal (6-4) LW: 6
On a night where sophomore KZ Okpala was limited to just 22 minutes and seven points, Stanford needed a 51-point second half to erase a halftime deficit against Eastern Washington.
Yes, that Eastern Washington, the one that plays in the Big Sky. Nonetheless, a win is a win and shows the Cardinal learned resilience from their overtime loss to then-No. 2 Kansas. Sophomore guard Daejon Davis missed one of his eight shot attempts, finishing with a team-high 19 points.
At 6-4, resting near the bottom of the conference standings, all coach Jerod Haase can do is work to develop his players. The reality is that the program immediately opted for an alternate plan this season following the transfer of Reid Travis.
And while the Cardinal have had mixed efforts in losses to Kansas, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Florida, they have a chance to pick up a quality non conference win on Saturday.
After picking up a victory against San Jose State, Stanford will play a San Francisco team on the road that is receiving votes in the Associated Press poll. The Dons are among the top rebounding teams in the country, pulling down over 41 per contest. Coach Kyle Smith has his program on the rise and this is an upset in the making. Without Travis, it’ll be up to Okpala and fellow big man Josh Sharma to try and limit the damage on the glass.
Following that matchup, Stanford has one final test outside of the Pac-12 before traveling to USC and UCLA at the turn of the calendar.
– Pekale