The Stanford Cardinal aren't known for being the most excited fanbase when it comes to their football team. They've had trouble selling out football games lately and have struggled attracting local support. In 2011, it all seemed to change; with a Heisman Trophy caliber quarterback in Andrew Luck and fresh off an incredible 12-1 campaign, Stanford fans did their best to fill up their stadium for almost every game this year, and for once outdrew their rivals at Cal (although to be fair, Cal was playing in a baseball park, even though attendance was far from spectacular there either).
Looks like that won't be a problem in the bowl game either. Stanford sold out their ticket allotment in a hurry, 17,500 in all.
Stanford had a lot of things working against them last year when they made it to a BCS bowl game. For one, it was the Orange Bowl in Miami, and Palo Alto is kind of far away from Miami. For another, the bowl was against a decent but overmatched Virginia Tech squad, and Stanford was happy to wreck them. This year, they'll be close to home in Tempe and facing a team comparable in talent in the Oklahoma St. Cowboys. It's a nice rebound for a fanbase that is starting to prove it has the passion to be a football school too.
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