Stanford Football: 3 bowl game possibilities for the Cardinal in 2017

3. Las Vegas Bowl (Sam Boyd Stadium/Las Vegas vs. Mountain West)

Amazingly, Stanford has also never played at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. They have never faced UNLV before, and the Las Vegas Bowl has also never come calling. The postseason contest has been on the calendar since 1992, and affiliated with the Pac-12 since the conference was still the Pac-10 back in 2001.

But despite a decade and a half of history with the Pac-12, they have never picked Stanford to appear in their contest. It is an easy trip from the Bay Area to Sin City, however, with three international airports offering relatively inexpensive flights to McCarran International Airport. The Cardinal would bring a solid traveling contingent to Nevada for this showdown, especially given the novelty of never having previously played in the city.

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Would David Shaw’s team actually go for it, though? Given that the Pac-12 is affiliated with only a half-dozen bowl games, they might ultimately have no choice. USC is almost certainly penciled in for one of the New Year’s Six bowl games, most likely the Fiesta in Glendale. Washington, despite losing to the Cardinal, is a 10-win team. Washington State beat Stanford earlier this year. If the two Washington schools land spots in the Holiday Bowl and the Alamo Bowl, Stanford could end up playing the Mountain West champion in Vegas.