The Stanford Cardinal will be playing their second consecutive BCS bowl game in January when they head south to square off with the Oklahoma St. Cowboys in the Fiesta Bowl. While it is a great honor to play in such a prestigious game in front of a national audience, some of those -- particularly the seniors playing their final game -- wanted to play elsewhere than Arizona.
Due to the Pac-12, the Cardinal travel to Arizona every year. After the team played in Florida last season at the Orange Bowl, it was rumored that a few players were unhappy and wanted to play in Louisiana for the Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl took Michigan over Stanford as their at-large team.
Despite the rumors, they are not true, according to a report from SFGate.com, which is affiliated with the San Francisco Chronicle.
An informal poll of 28 regulars by The Chronicle on Friday found that the Fiesta Bowl finished just ahead of "no preference" on their original wish list once they were out of the discussion for the BCS title game and the Rose Bowl.
The results: 10 1/2 votes for the Fiesta (a couple of players split their votes), 4 1/2 for the Orange, 4 for the Sugar and 9 for "no preference."
They were unanimous, though, that the Fiesta turned out to be the right bowl because of the matchup with No. 3 Oklahoma State and the fun the players have had this week.
This story appeared to be overblown and there is no doubt that the Cardinal are happy and ready to take on the Cowboys next week for the Fiesta Bowl. A high scoring shootout is expected, and if this past season was any indication, there will be plenty of fireworks out of Glendale.
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