BCS Rankings: Arizona State Stumble Will Cost Stanford Cardinal in Title Hunt

You'd think No. 4 Stanford would have plenty to be happy about on a day when the Cardinal won 38-13, but such is the life of a contender in the BCS National Championship chase.

Without a playoff, true happiness in college football is too often contingent on the success or, rather, failure of other teams.

That may well be the case at the end of the day for Stanford after watching Arizona State do everything in its power to lose to UCLA at the Rose Bowl and cede control of the Pac-12 South in the process.

As much credit as Rick Neuheisel's Bruins deserve for their gritty effort, this was undoubtedly the case of the Sun Devils losing the game much more than the underdog Bruins winning.

For once, mistake-prone ASU looked, more or less, like the team that had the gun pointed away from its foot. The Sun Devils had only five penalties and didn't turn the ball over once, while the Bruins notched eight flags and fumbled four times, giving it away twice.

However, for all of Brock Osweiler's timely throws and Cameron Marshall's spectacular scampers, the Devils couldn't quite overcome the inaccuracies of kicker Alex Garoutte who whiffed on all three of his field goal attempts—including a 46-yarder at the end of regulation that would've won the game.

Instead, the kick sailed wide right and left UCLA, the same team that lost by 36 points to a two-win Arizona squad just two weeks ago, and the same team that hadn't won back-to-back games all season, with a 29-28 win and its destiny in the Pac-12 South in its own hands—and Stanford's face in its own hands.

With the national title hunt as jumbled as it is, the Cardinal need all the help they can get lining up quality opponents from here on out. Had the Sun Devils done enough to win the division and reach the inaugural Pac-12 Championship Game, they would've been just that for Andrew Luck and Co.

Of course, the Cardinal and Sun Devils might still face off on December 2nd. The Bruins are anything but a sure bet to win their final three games—at Utah, versus Colorado, and at USC—while ASU could "easily" (and I use that term carefully) beat Washington State, Cal and Arizona to close out the season.

That would be enough to keep Stanford from having to beat the Bruins again after doing so by a score of 45-19 in early October.

For now, though, Stanford can only hope that winning out will be enough to leapfrog the Oklahoma State Cowboys into the BCS National Championship Game against LSU.

And curse USC for being banned from postseason play.