The Pac-12 Conference still is lagging behind its national peers four weeks into the 2018-19 season. But Stanford very nearly cut the gap Saturday.
A league lacking any impressive nonconference wins against marquee national foes almost got one from the Cardinal, which took No. 2 Kansas to overtime before dropping a 90-84 decision. Stanford was just a 3-pointer from Kansas' Lagerald Vick with seven seconds remaining in regulation away from giving a huge present to Cardinal coach Jerod Haase, who played at Kansas.
Though Stanford begins the week with a 4-4 mark, the Cardinal, unlike the Colorado Buffaloes, was able to line up a number of power conference foes for its nonconference slate.