2013 Pac-12 Championship Game: Stanford vs. Arizona State odds, preview and prediction
By Jack Crosby
The 2013 Pac-12 Championship Game will take place on Saturday night between one team trying to make yet another trip to the Rose Bowl, where they’ve spent a significant amount of time lately, and one that is trying to grab some BCS glory with their second-year head coach.
Todd Graham and the Arizona State Sun Devils will not only play in, but they will host the game on Saturday evening. In Graham’s second year at the helm, he has turned this program into the champs of the South Division, and they secured that with a win over UCLA two weeks ago.
They’ve grown exponentially week in and week out with QB Taylor Kelly, but they will be without star running back Marion Grice in this one.
Stanford has had themselves quite the up-and-down season in 2013. They were upset by Utah, then went on to knock Oregon out of the BCS title race, and then were upended by USC. Still, enough pieces fell in front of them to warrant this return trip to the conference title game.
This game is a rematch from very early on in the season, a game in which the Cardinal actually routed the Sun Devils, 42-28. But, this is a different Arizona State team than the one we saw at that point in the year.
Date: Dec. 7
Start Time: 7:45 PM ET
Location: Tempe, AZ
Stadium: Sun Devil Stadium
TV Info: ESPN
Odds: Arizona State -3
Prediction: Despite the Sun Devils being the favorite, the way Stanford plays against fast teams has always been a personal favorite of mine. They play old-school football where they punch you in the mouth to throw you off your rhythm, and that’s what Todd Graham’s offensive system is based off of–rhythm.
Without Grice, a lot more pressure will be put on Taylor Kelly and Stanford should just be able to out-physical their way to a victory once again and earn another trip to the Rose Bowl.
Final Score: Stanford 27, Arizona State 20