The view from the top of Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois just might be one of the most spectacular in college football. On a clear day, the downtown Chicago skyline bursts into view, rising up over the rows of trees gracing the entrance to the stadium as if ready to watch over another fall Saturday we never want to see end.

At least this is what I’ve been told. I don’t actually know. When I stepped out from the castle that served as our home for our first radio broadcast of the season and looked out into the distance on a cloudless day, I couldn’t see more than six inches in front of me. My eyes had gone completely bleary from the fatigue of calling a football game for the first time and utter confusion over what the hell we had just witnessed on the gridiron.

On that day, I couldn’t see the brilliant view in front of us, and, similarly, the outlook of the Stanford football program appeared murky and uncertain, to put it lightly.  

With that 16-6 loss at Northwestern, it looked like Stanford’s absurd, inexplicable run into the inner circle of elite college football just might have run its course. Maybe it was time to cash in the chips and just be happy we even got to play a few hands with the best of the best.

At the time, all we could think about was how Stanford’s implosion at Northwestern evoked those same concerns from a difficult 2014 season that started out 5-5: inconsistent play from Kevin Hogan, a struggling offensive line and penalties upon penalties. With Stanford’s top defense of previous years replacing nine starters, there was genuine fear amongst fans that 2015 could be the program’s undoing. And despite all of this hysteria coming after just one game, it somehow felt justified.

It’s funny how sharply a narrative can change in just four months. When we look back on this season, will we talk about those early murmurs of Stanford’s talent failing to materialize, of a locker room primed for fractionalization, of a coaching staff that couldn’t put its players in a position to win?

Probably not. Instead, we will look back on the leadership of a group of seniors that became the first Stanford class to go to three Rose Bowls in four years since the 1930s. In the process, Kevin Hogan finished as the winningest quarterback in Stanford history and questions of the Cardinal’s ability to find and develop talent were — like opposing defenses — left in the dust by Christian McCaffrey.

As a senior myself, I’ve had the chance to follow three Rose Bowl campaigns closely, a once-in-20-lifetimes kind of opportunity. Picking my favorite of those seasons, however, is an impossible task. It would be akin to trying to choose your favorite child (not that I know what that’s like). But I don’t think it’s so unreasonable to talk about which of these three Rose Bowl trips has meant the most to the program. In that regard — given what Stanford did to turn this season around — 2015 has to be considered the sweetest journey of them all.

In reality, there are no incorrect answers to this question. 2012 has a very special place in Stanford lore: replacing the irreplaceable in Andrew Luck, overcoming two early losses behind a fresh-faced Hogan, winning the conference for the first time in the Harbaugh-Shaw era and, of course, the first trip to Pasadena since 2000.

2013 featured the nation’s most ferocious defense, the complete domination of Oregon for three-and-a-half quarters and blowing out Arizona State on the road to capture back-to-back Pac-12 Championships. It was a season in which Stanford, for more than just fleeting moments, looked like the best team in the country.

In 2015, though, Stanford fought a different kind of battle. Coming off of an 8-5 season and dropping that game at Northwestern, it would only seem natural for the panic building on the outside to creep inside the tent. Except, that did not happen. Stanford not only moved on from that loss, it proceeded to unleash one of the most potent offenses in the country and again claimed the conference behind a cruel and efficient sacking of Troy.

While Stanford had to replace critical contributors in each of the previous two Rose Bowl seasons, 2015 was the first time in David Shaw’s era where the Cardinal had to rebound from the disappointment of the previous season — and it says something about expectations on The Farm when an 8-5 record is a down season.

Over the years, we’ve seen a number of flash-in-the-pan programs burst into the limelight and then fade into obscurity just as quickly. With Stanford’s struggles last season and then watching those shortcomings carry over, it looked like the Cardinal were on the descent.

Instead, we watched a team seamlessly integrate its speedy playmakers with a power-running identity; we were treated to David Shaw 2.0, a self-described “looser” head coach who showed his emotion on the sideline; we saw the Cardinal make in-game adjustments and, in the words of Hogan, “punch adversity in the mouth” against Washington State. It was, in several key respects, a new Stanford squad, and the results speak for themselves.

Overall, Stanford rebounded with a season for the ages to send a message to the nation that the soil on The Farm remains fertile. In that regard — with all of the questions and uncertainty surrounding the Cardinal — 2015 just might be the most important Rose Bowl season of them all.

It would be an understatement to say we’ve come a long way since Sept. 5 in Evanston. In the press box, we will trade in that view of Chicago for the San Gabriel mountains and our first radio broadcast for our last. This time around, I’ll be sure to take in the view from the top. You never know when an experience like this will come around again.

However, with the foundation this program has built and sustained through a critical 2015 season, the odds seem pretty good.

While Vihan Lakshman was able to pick a Rose Bowl trip that meant the most to the football program, it is impossible to pick a season or year in which Vihan has meant the most to The Daily. Send him a note of appreciation at vihan ‘at’ stanford.edu.