Stanford Listed as Underdogs Against Hawaii

Stanford’s offseason has been filled with changes to the structure of the program and moves on the roster. They've added a general manager and a new head coach, to many new faces in the locker room, Palo Alto is currently experiencing a culture shift, in a positive way.

Coming off of four straight 3-9 seasons, expectations are low nationally for the Cardinal. Many project them to finish at the bottom of the ACC, having a similar year to what we've seen the past four seasons. Those views are shared by the oddsmakers, who have now shifted the line of their opening game at Hawaii.

Originally, Stanford were the favorites, with their line being -3. However, it has officially changed to Hawaii being -1.5 over at FanDuel Sportsbook. That's a 4.5 point swing during the opening weeks of camp, and it doesn't appear as though much has changed to have led to that swing.

Stanford was coming off of four straight 3-9 seasons when the original line dropped, so they had to like something not so long ago.

First, they have brought in 18 transfers, compared to Hawaii’s 12. To add, the Cardinal’s additions are from bigger programs, and have many at skill positions.

Second, Stanford has the far better recruiting class, ranking 54th overall. On the other hand, Hawaii ranks just 134th overall, ranking lower than FCS programs Sac State, North Dakota State, Montana State, Eastern Washington, South Dakota State, and Montana.

Third, Stanford ranks much higher in returning production. Hawaii returns just 58% of their team, ranking 61st in the nation. Stanford ranks 13th. The Rainbow Warriors rank 67th in offensive returning production, and 53rd in defensive returning production, while Stanford ranks 63rd and 6th in those categories.

Finally, looking at their all time record against each other, the Cardinal have won all four, all on the road. Most recently, Stanford won 37-24, back in 2023.

Stanford is the better program. Despite ranking last in the ACC preseason poll, power four teams often dominate group of five teams, even some that are at the top of their conference. Hawaii was ranked 7th in the Mountain West, meaning Stanford should be heavy favorites.

All of these reasons add to the fact that Stanford should clearly be the favorites to win the Week 0 matchup. A better program, coach, recruiting class, transfer portal and returning production, to go along with wins in every matchup between these teams make it seem almost impossible to not pick the Cardinal.

Regardless, Hawaii comes in as the favorites. It will be incredibly interesting to see how this game plays out, and who truly is the better of the two.

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