No they don't - they can lose before they play each other. I'm okay with both losing before we have to face either!
Little variety would be nice, ya know? Also, Tanner Beason is actually from Winston-Salem, so they have a sizable (and vocal) contingent here every year.
While I agree that Wake Forest can beat them, I think they've been the better team the last two, and maybe even three years and we've seen how that went. Wake is loaded and should win but Stanford just has their number. BTW, you know you've arrived as a national power when you win a power conference, are in the top 10 in the RPI and the NCAA Tournament seeding and are 8th in the country in goals-allowed... and it's a down year.
Stanford has everybody's number because they play to not lose. They're always willing to go to OT and PKs if necessary. They play like the underdog and I think that's an advantage. I agree - they've "arrived." Not sure that the Pac-12 is so powerful. Historically, they do not do well overall in the NCAA tournament. Their advantage is that they have only 6 teams and all are okay. Numerically they rank as #2, but their top 4 are #'s 9/22/29/30. The B1G is supposedly below them, but its top 4 are #'s 2/12/28/33.
Minor point on the bracket - the UC Riverside/U of Pacific game was actually played down in Fresno at Fresno Pacific University because the air quality in Stockton was bad from smoke blowing in from the Camo Fire 100 miles north. And I don't know if there is any relationship between U of P and FPU.
The St Mary's vs Oregon State game has been moved to Fresno Pacific as well. I have kids that live in Sacramento and San Francisco. Both of them have been sending me pictures of how bad the air is up there. St Mary's campus is a little south of the line between those two cities. Fresno doesn't seem to be much better. https://airnow.gov/state/CA/index.cfm
Akron @ Syracuse has been moved to the Colgate campus due to weather. Forecast for Syracuse is "periods of snow" whereas forecast for Hamilton is "periods of light snow". So much better! Adds an hour of travel time for any Akron fans planning to make the trip ...
... but turf field as opposed to grass. Didn't seem to matter as ZIps with a great win over a tough opponent.