STANFORD, Calif. — As the Stanford players exited the field after their 42-17 victory against Arizona on Saturday night, they were met by a fan waving a poster that read, “WAKE UP AND SMELL THE ROSES.”  The Rose Bowl dreams of the Stanford faithful shifted into overdrive after the 10th-ranked Cardinal dominated the No. 13 Wildcats night in the most significant showdown at Stanford Stadium in many years.  On the strength of Andrew Luck’s 293 passing yards and Stepfan Taylor’s four rushing touchdowns, Stanford amassed 510 yards of offense. The Cardinal defense forced a turnover and snuffed out a third-quarter Arizona drive at the Stanford 6, while holding the Wildcats to half their scoring average. On the way to improving to 8-1, the Cardinal looked like arguably the best one-loss team in the land, its only defeat coming to conference rival Oregon, which is ranked No. 1.  “I told the team that I thought it was our most complete game,” Coach Jim Harbaugh said. He added, “I thought they played very smart, disciplined football.”  Perhaps because the Cardinal looked unstoppable, it was easy for Stanford fans to let their thoughts run away from them. The sign holder’s thinking was transparent: If the Ducks win out and advance to the Bowl Championship Series title game in Glendale, Ariz., it will pave the way for the Cardinal to play in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.  In fact, Stanford appears a more likely candidate for the Alamo Bowl. The Cardinal needs to win its final three games and have Oregon lose twice to win the conference and with it the automatic Rose Bowl bid, or hope a non-BCS team like Texas Christian or Boise State advances to play the Ducks for the championship. That would free the Rose Bowl from having to take a non-automatic qualifier if the Pacific-10 or Big Ten champion advances to the title game.  If Stanford were to finish at 11-1, it would be in the mix for a B.C.S. at-large berth.  The program’s downside was evident to anybody who watched Saturday’s national telecast. The attendance was announced as 43,506, but there were entire sections that were sparsely occupied. It was a reminder to the B.C.S. brass that the Cardinal does not have the most rabid following, no small consideration for bowl officials trying to fill stadiums at neutral sites.  Asked what postseason game the Cardinal is playing for, Luck said: “We’re not sure. We understand that the opportunities are there for Stanford. I know that there are many different situations out there for bowl games and whatnot. In the end, it doesn’t matter unless we win. We’re thinking like that.”
Tenth-ranked Stanford dominated No. 13 Arizona and put itself in position for a Bowl Championship Series game -- perhaps even in Pasadena.