The biggest game of the weekend is slated for 5pm tonight when the Oregon Ducks travel to Palo Alto to take on the undefeated Stanford Cardinal. The game will have BCS and potentially National Championship implications for Stanford and they might be getting a little bit of help from the weather.
With rains hitting the Bay Area for the first time in a little while, it wouldn't be a big surprise to see the field muddied up a bit, and this type of thing could really hinder Oregon's speed advantage.
We saw the Cardinal struggle against USC's speed element a couple weeks ago, and Oregon is significantly faster than that Trojan team. Stanford's game is to slow the tempo down, run the ball, grind the clock and matriculate down the field. Oregon's style is quite the opposite, relying on big plays and a fast tempo. Stanford Stadium's natural surface is already a disadvantage for the Ducks but they'll have to overcome a potentially sloppy field to play spoiler to Stanford's season.