Tennis legend and Stanford alum John McEnroe once said, “I’ll let the racket do the talking.” In today’s world, athletics are publicized anywhere and everywhere, and people are hired to make predictions about what they think will happen in sporting events.

The truth is, the players are the ones that decide the outcomes. An announcer or an expert can sit there all day and talk about what he or she thinks will happen, but the player on the field in the thick of the action is the one calling the shots. No matter what people say, the game is won or lost on the field. People sometimes seem shocked by big upsets, but often the athletes on the winning side just wanted to win a bit more than those that lost.

With that said, here are the winners and losers of this weekend in college sports.

Winner: Stanford Field Hockey

After a 6-0 start to the season and a national ranking, the last few weeks have been rough on Stanford. However, the team still sits at 10-7 and is the No. 2 seed for this weekend’s NorPac Tournament.

The tournament will be played at home, where Stanford is most comfortable playing and has had much success this season. They have already won their opening round game and are in the semi finals today. A potential finals match-up against top-seeded California looms for Stanford, but the ladies should be able to take the Bears on their third try. The Cardinal has lost two close matches to the Bears this year but three could be the magic number. Stanford should be motivated enough to pull out the victory and walk away as NorPac tournament champions for the third time in school history.

Loser: Connecticut

It is amazing to think that we are talking about Connecticut in a sport other than basketball. If you haven’t noticed, Connecticut football is 7-1, first place in the Big East, and ranked No. 13 in the country. Their biggest wins have included a one-point road victory at Virginia and a home victory over then-No.10 South Florida last weekend.

Connecticut gets Rutgers on Saturday after the Scarlet Knights got handled last week by West Virginia. Rutgers still can play ball, and Connecticut seems in a little over its head right now. The Big East just lacks a clear frontrunner right now — Rutgers desperately needs a win to stay in the race. They will go into Connecticut and win a tough game.

Winner: Men’s Water Polo

Stanford has a pair of match-ups against California schools to highlight a busy weekend. The No. 4 Cardinal plays No. 8 UC-Davis and No. 13 Pacific in two important conference games. The team should win both games as they have had a rough schedule up to this point. Cardinal water polo has played the top teams in the nation multiple times lately as a result of its tournament-heavy schedule. The team is coming off a big win last Sunday over No. 5 Pepperdine and looks to keep rolling. Sophomores Drac and Janson Wigo and Sage Wright will lead the scoring attack in a winning weekend for the team.

Loser: Arizona State

Undefeated No. 6 Arizona State goes on the road against red-hot No. 4 Oregon in a game with huge Pac-10 and BCS championship implications. The Sun Devils are ranked seventh nationally in scoring defense while the Ducks are fifth in total offense. This game will come down to mistakes and control of the ball, and Oregon (at home again) will limit their mistakes in taking control of the game.

Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter was unable to throw on Tuesday after spraining his thumb in last week’s win over Cal, but he threw well yesterday in practice and says that he will be healthy for the game. If Carpenter is hindered at all during this game, it could spell trouble for the Sun Devils. Expect Oregon’s BCS chances and control of the Pac-10 to be further established when all is said and done.

Winner: Stanford Football

O.K., I know I said they would win last week against Oregon State when they were perhaps over-matched, but I’m going with them again and here’s why: Washington has given up exactly 147 points in their last three games (an average of 49 per game) and Stanford is at home, having just played against the toughest defense in the conference.

Washington has been struggling lately and is still winless in the Pac-10. Stanford, on the other hand, still has a legitimate shot at winning six games and qualifying for its first bowl since 2002. The Cardinal absolutely needs this victory if it wants to achieve six wins, and the players will surely be motivated enough. Cardinal football will win and beat former head coach Tyrone Willingham for the second straight year.