THE POWER RANK

  • About
    • About The Power Rank
    • Start Here
    • Contact
  • Predictions
    • Games
    • March Madness
  • Content
    • Must Read
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • March Madness Book
  • Rankings
    • College Basketball
    • NFL
    • College Football
    • MLB
    • Cluster Luck
    • CFB yards per play
    • World Soccer/Football
  • Members
    • My Account
    • Login
    • Become a member
    • COVID-19 Policy
  • Log in

Stanford (2) will beat USC (27) by 18.9 on the road

By Dr. Ed Feng Leave a Comment

The final The Power Rank for Stanford and USC over the last 12 years.

A historical look at Stanford and USC.

In 2000, USC hired Pete Carroll as head coach. While he was their fourth choice to take the job, Carroll created a college football dynasty at USC through competitive recruiting and a jovial atmosphere. The Trojan’s execution in big games was breath taking at times. However, USC was in decline by his last year in 2009, and he left the school with NCAA sanctions when he left for the NFL. In his successor Lane Kiffin’s second year, USC’s rating has slipped from last year despite a 6-1 record.

In 2006, Stanford hit rock bottom by going 1-11. The new Stanford Stadium didn’t seem to inspire the players or soon to be fired head coach Walt Harris. Jim Harbaugh took over in 2007 and created a physical mentality that has turned Stanford into one of college football’s elite teams. Stanford’s -7.1 rating after the 2006 season became 23.8 by the time Harbaugh left for the NFL after the 2010 season, a staggering 30.9 point increase in team strength. David Shaw took over as head coach this year and increased Stanford’s rating to 29.3 in his first 7 games, although they haven’t faced an opponent ranked higher than 45th in The Power Rank.

Stanford’s schedule gets tougher this weekend with a game at USC. The Cardinal offensive line will get tested against a USC team that is much better than their 49th ranking in scoring defense. While much has been made of three senior linemen that graduated last year, only center Chase Beeler made an NFL training camp roster, according to Stanford’s media guide. Moreover, tackle Jonathan Martin and guard David DeCastro, the returning starters, are rated as the 9th and 26th best NFL prospects overall by ESPN. Center Sam Schwartzstein, guard David Yankey and tackle Cameron Fleming have filled the starting roles and powered the Stanford to 10.1 yards per carry (446 total) against Washington last week. The Power Rank predicts a 18.9 point win by Stanford, significantly higher than the line of 8 in favor of Stanford. USC has a 15% chance of pulling an upset.

Filed Under: College Football, College Football 2011, College Football Analytics, Football Analytics, Stanford Cardinal, USC Trojans

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Predictions from Ed Feng

I use my Stanford Ph.D. in applied math to make football and March Madness predictions.

To get a sample of my best American football predictions and March Madness cheat sheet, sign up for my free email newsletter.

Enter your email and click on "Sign up now!"

Popular Articles

  • How to win your NCAA tournament pool
  • The ultimate guide to predictive college basketball analytics
  • How to predict interceptions in the NFL
  • Accurate football predictions with linear regression
  • The surprising truth about passing and rushing in the NFL
  • Football analytics resource guide
  • The Reason You Can’t Avoid The Curse of Small Sample Size
  • The essential guide to predictive CFB rankings
  • How computer rankings make you smarter about sports
  • How to win your college football bowl pool
  • Do you make these 3 mistakes with college football statistics?
  • The Top 10 Things to Know About The Power Rank’s Methods
  • 5 insights from academic research on predicting world soccer/football matches

Recent Articles

  • Bracket Wisdom #3: Alabama
  • Bracket Wisdom #2: Predictability vs skill in 3 point shooting, Part 2
  • Bracket Wisdom #1: Predictability vs skill in 3 point shooting, Part 1
  • Members: College basketball predictions for Saturday, February 26, 2021
  • Podcast: Ed Feng on How to Win Your March Madness Pool

© 2021 The Power Rank Inc., All rights reserved.

About, Terms of Use, Privacy Policy

Get a sample of my best football predictions

While I usually save my best predictions for paying members of the site, I offer a sample in my weekly email newsletter.


To get this service, sign up for my free email newsletter.


Enter your email and click on "Sign up now!"

No thanks, I'll make predictions without data and analytics.

{"cookieName":"wBounce","isAggressive":false,"isSitewide":true,"hesitation":"","openAnimation":false,"exitAnimation":false,"timer":"","sensitivity":"","cookieExpire":"","cookieDomain":"","autoFire":"","isAnalyticsEnabled":true}
  • About
    • About The Power Rank
    • Start Here
    • Contact
  • Predictions
    • Games
    • March Madness
  • Content
    • Must Read
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • March Madness Book
  • Rankings
    • College Basketball
    • NFL
    • College Football
    • MLB
    • Cluster Luck
    • CFB yards per play
    • World Soccer/Football
  • Members
    • My Account
    • Login
    • Become a member
    • COVID-19 Policy