BCS Bowl Projections: Stanford Most Likely Headed to Orange or Fiesta
by Scott Allen on Nov 29, 2025 7:56 AM PST
Email
PrintPlease feel free to drop additional projections in the comments.
The Stanford Daily breaks down Stanford's bowl options in fine fashion. This is worth your time if you want a really good handle on how next week's games will affect the Cardinal's travel plans.
ESPN's Mark Schlabach projects Stanford vs. Oklahoma in the FIESTA BOWL.
ESPN's Andrea Adelson projects Stanford vs. Virginia Tech in the ORANGE BOWL.
NBC's John Tamahana projects Stanford vs. Oklahoma in the FIESTA BOWL.
On the field, this is a great matchup (and a rematch of last year's Sun Bowl). In the stands and around town, not so much. Hopefully Stanford’s fans rally to the cause. The Cardinal (11-1) only drew 38,775 to last Saturday’s 38-0 whipping of Oregon State. The Rose Bowl would love to trade its matchup for this one.
CBS Sports projects Stanford vs. Oklahoma in the FIESTA BOWL.
SB Nation's Andy Hutchins projects Stanford vs. Virginia Tech in the ORANGE BOWL.
Go Mighty Card projects Stanford vs. Oklahoma in the FIESTA BOWL.
Pre-Snap Read projects Stanford vs. Virginia Tech in the ORANGE BOWL.
All of the projections above are based on an Auburn-Oregon National Championship Game, which is why no one projects Stanford in the Rose Bowl. As you know by now, TCU is guaranteed to fill the Pac-10's spot in Pasadena if the Ducks are in the title game and the Horned Frogs are not. If Auburn loses to South Carolina, TCU could move into the title game, and Stanford would smell the roses.
As much as I would prefer to see Stanford in the Rose Bowl or Fiesta Bowl, I'm leaning toward the Orange Bowl selecting Stanford over UConn, which can clinch the Big East with a win against South Florida on Saturday. Would a "Stanford Fans Won't Travel to the Orange Bowl" Facebook petition help get the Cardinal to Glendale? (I kid. I think Stanford would bring a healthy contingent to South Beach for a Jan. 3 game, but more fans would make the trip to Glendale on Jan. 1.)
Finally, the New York Times' Pete Thamel asked BCS analyst Jerry Palm what might happen if the Tigers and Ducks both lose next weekend.
I can’t even give you a straight answer. There’s too many variables to that. It really does depend on how they lose.
There's plenty more speculation to come.
Tweet
10 comments
|
Add comment
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Orange Bowl - meh
Would a “Stanford Fans Won’t Travel to the Orange Bowl” Facebook petition help get the Cardinal to Glendale?
I’d sign it.
It's orange inside
by TheAntiBork on Nov 29, 2025 12:58 PM PST reply actions
Not only would the Orange Bowl be a less desirable outcome based on distance, but it also provides a less attractive matchup on paper. I mean, does anyone actually expect Stanford vs. Virginia Tech to be competitive? Stanford would probably kill them. And while a blowout win in a BCS game might look good on the resume, I dunno, I’d rather see compelling football matchups. As a fan of competitive football, I’d much rather see them in the Fiesta Bowl against the Big 12 Champ (probably Oklahoma), just because it’d be an intriguing matchup.
Save the Orange Bowl for the Big East and the ACC…
"If you can accept losing, you can't win." ~Vince Lombardi
Tweet Tweet.
by ZeroIndulgence on Nov 29, 2025 2:11 PM PST reply actions
It's a shame
That we get screwed out of the Rose Bowl by this one time only rule. Asking No. Cal. fans to travel to Miami is a lot to ask; and would students be deterred by the fact that school starts the next day? The question for the Orange Bowl is would our “football appeal” trump the economics of cross-country travel limitations? Perhaps if UConn is the choice; but most definitely not if it is WVU. My sources say that the team is anti-Phoenix (borrringggg and not wanting to play OU again); but I think it is the best thing for the program and for a good matchup.
by Gus Zernial on Nov 29, 2025 2:13 PM PST reply actions
Attendance woes
Why isn’t TCU getting a bad rap for low fan turnout? they’ve been better than Stanford for longer, yet they can’t fill their stadium (in football-loving Fort Worth!), and only have ~9k students enrolled. Stanford would be a much better west-coast fan draw, almost certainly. Plus, who knows anything about TCU’s team? Stanford’s got marquee stuff going on.
I’m just hoping the Orange does buy into the “bad fans” hype and takes an east coast team, opening us up to the possibility of Glendale. Or, I hope some serious politics happen and TCU gets traded with Stanford to maintain Pac-10 presence in the Rose. We’d be a much better draw for them.
by coooldude on Nov 30, 2025 7:54 AM PST reply actions
i've been wondering about the trade possibility myself
I’d love it if the opponent was Wisconsin. The Orange/Fiesta might well prefer TCU… and the Rose would probably prefer Stanford.
But failing that pipedream… I agree with the commenters above … not excited at all by the Orange Bowl. I’d rather face the Big-12 winner in the Fiesta (maybe the Sugar will let us play the SEC team!)
Go South Carolina! Go Virginia Tech!
by run_dmo on Nov 30, 2025 1:48 PM PST up reply actions
oh...
and I guess go West Virginia! and South Florida!
(this is weird… I’m not used to caring about non-west-coast football)
by run_dmo on Nov 30, 2025 2:01 PM PST up reply actions
Wilner talked about a trade a few days ago
There’s some clause in the BCS contracts that allows the four bowls to switch around at-large picks "for the good of the game." In essence, they trade around the at-large picks to get the best possible matchup for their game (ratings for ABC/ESPN) while giving the community the best possible windfall (geography/traveling fan base). That’s why there’s a split on where Stanford would go, Orange or Fiesta.
The clause, however, doesn’t appear to supersede the non-AQ rule that the Rose Bowl would have to follow if TCU isn’t in the NCG, meaning that the Rose (and Orange and Fiesta) could have the best possible game for their bowls by having Stanford in Pasadena, but won’t be able to do it because of the non-AQ clause. The non-AQ clause naturally screws over the Rose, and by sheer nature of the Rose being forced to take TCU and the Big East being so terrible this year, screws over the Orange and Fiesta bowls as well, since it appears the Sugar wants nothing to do with Stanford, TCU, or the Big East. If it weren’t for the non-AQ rule, the Rose would get a UW-Stanford game (highly regarded), the Sugar would get it’s Arkansas-tOSU game, the Orange would get the ACC winner (hopes for FSU) vs. TCU/Big East, and the Fiesta would get Big-12 winner vs. TCU/Big East, assuming the Tigers and Ducks remain in the NCG.
by RedOscar on Nov 30, 2025 4:34 PM PST up reply actions
Attendance for TCU
The difference there is that TCU has been more “successful” longer. Additionally, they played in a highly rated (I think) BCS bowl last year, and have been known as the “anti-Boise State.” They have also gotten a whole lot more publicity as a BCS team throughout the past two years than Stanford, implying that they would naturally draw a bigger nationwide audience for television ratings over Stanford.
Basically TCU could bring in the fewest fans to the Rose Bowl since Wazzu in ’02, angering RB folks, but ABC/ESPN would be satisfied.
by RedOscar on Nov 30, 2025 4:14 PM PST up reply actions
A rematch vs OU wouldnt be all that bad...........
Frankly I dont care who Stanford faces………..whoever it is……is going down.
The score dictated they pass
by norcaliangelsfan on Nov 30, 2025 4:27 PM PST reply actions
I would much rather see
Stanford in the Fiesta bowl against a semi-worthy Big 12 opponent rather than having to ship the players and fans all the way across the country just to put an epic beat-down on some poor Big East “winner”.
Fact of the matter is, I’m not too happy with Stanford getting cheated out of the Rose Bowl, as I think Stanford-Wisconsin would be a Rose Bowl for the ages. Seriously, the badgers put up more points than WE did. On a CONFERENCE OPPONENT. I’d love to see Stanford’s smash-mouth offense led by Luck take on the team that:
A) Scored 70+ points 3 times this season
B) Beat then-#1 Ohio State
C) Only beat ASU by 1 point.
It would be such a great game!!!
Instead, we have to sit through the badgers wiping the turf with vaunted Big east-inductee TCU, who I predict will drop to #10 or lower after this crushing defeat.
Sorry for keeping you out of the Rose Bowl :( Honestly, watching you guys play the rest of the season, I’m still surprised we beat you. Hopefully something magical happens, like Auburn getting their asses handed to them by South Carolina, and you guys can have a shot at the Roses!
Best wishes for next season!
BCS stands for Boise Can Suck it. I am naturally a proud supporter of the current BCS system.
by Brass-billed on Dec 3, 2025 1:43 AM PST reply actions
Something to say? Choose one of these options to log in.
- » Create a new SB Nation account
- » Already registered with SB Nation? Log in!
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
- Start posting about the Cardinal
- Follow @RuleofTree
- Subscribe to Rule Of Tree Stories
The Absolut Bloody Hour Countdown
::
Enjoy with ABSOLUT Responsibility®
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
