The topic at hand: Stanford's chances of repeating in XC are excellent, better than Colorado's in 2002. They're eight to ten guys deep so if one goes down they will be able to replace him with someonme who is likely just nine places back.
This season Colorado had four big guns and counted on someone else to break through. Once Ritz got hurt (before the start of the season), the majority of the CU hype vanished. Slattery = mono and you have two out of four. It's likely to be a dual meet between Wisconsin and Stanford at 2003 XC NCAAs, unless Arkansas reloads with some unreal talent.
There is no question academically that Stanford is one of the top three schools in the country, while the abundance of culture is phenomenally rich all over the Bay Area. If someone has a shot to get in they are foolhardy to pass up considering it at least. The only rub is the *PERCEPTION* that there is not much humility present. Some Stanford grads are perceived by others as coming across as arrogant or elitist--us vs. them types. Maybe they're jealous, maybe their is a grain of truth to it...or both.
You need a certain (very high) amount of talent, privilege and luck, and all of your ducks in a row to get into Stanford, i.e., 4.0 GPA, 1580 SAT score, extracurricular, etc. Getting in is clearing the high bar--not too many folks flunk out. IMHO there have to be a limited few bumps in the road prior to applying to Stanford in order to get in. Sometimes it's just a matter of circumstances, while in other cases some folks aren't sharp enough to warrant consideration at Stanford.
Still, if someone equally gifted has the disadvantage of (for example) a not-so-great childhood and is forced to expend energy dealing with instability in their family, i.e., health problems, welfare issues, struggling with identity crises' and what-not, rather than pulling A's, this individual might end up distracted or torn in their youth, becoming too late of a bloomer to overcome their problems in time to swing getting into Stanford at 18. They might not even feel comfortable there among the affluent. Whereas that someone might pull their life together in their college of choice and move on to a professional career equal to that of a Stanford grad.
So enjoy and make the most out of your collegiate experience wherever you go. In ten years, it's not where you start out, it's where you end up.
And congrats to the Cardinal on a great run at NCAAs.