Can Stanford football play in its first bowl game in over six years?

It has been a while since the Stanford Cardinal have played in a bowl game. But is what this year's team has shown early an indication of change?

Sep 16, 2023; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal wide receiver Elic Ayomanor (13) catches a touchdown pass during the second quarter against the Sacramento State Hornets at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

In 2018, the Stanford Cardinal made their most recent appearance in a college football bowl game after finishing 8-4 in the regular season, beating Pittsburgh 14-13 in the Sun Bowl. Since then, the Cardinal have failed to qualify for that type of game, coming closest in the 2020 COVID season when they finished 4-2 in the six game campaign, but coming up just short of qualification. But, with Stanford’s strong start to 2024, what are the chances that the team breaks the streak? Let’s take a look at how the season could play out.

Prior to the 2018-19 season, college football implemented a new set of criteria for bowl game eligibility, with the three main points being that a team must have at least a .500 record, only one win against FCS schools can count towards a team’s win total for a bowl game and if a team ends with a losing record because of the fact that they lost a conference championship game, they are still bowl eligible. Another big point is that wins against Ivy League schools, Patriot League schools or any other institutions that don’t award athletic scholarships also do not count.

Currently, the Cardinal sit at 2-1, with one of those wins coming against Cal Poly, which is an FCS school. However, with the Cal Poly game being the only FCS game on their schedule, that win still counts, meaning that the Cardinal only need four more wins to be eligible to play in a bowl game for the first time in six years. The question then becomes where those wins could come from.

Right now, the Cardinal are riding a two game winning streak after losing 34-27 to TCU in week one, taking home a win the very next week against Cal Poly before beating the Syracuse Orange in upset fashion coming out of a bye week in their most recent outing. Now, as the team prepares for yet another cross country road trip, this time preparing to face No. 17 ranked Clemson, they will have a huge wave of momentum on their side as they get ready to face yet another high powered offense in the Tigers, whose quarterback Cade Klubnik, is one of the nation’s best signal callers.

Beating Clemson may be tough, whose only loss on the year thus far was in week one to No. 1 Georgia while also having one of the nation’s best quarterbacks in Klubnik, so even if the Cardinal do end up losing that game, they could very well get back into the win column the following week when they not only take on a Virginia Tech team that experienced some bad luck in each of their two close losses, but they take on the Cavaliers at home, giving them home field advantage to try and grab the win.

Aside from Clemson, the toughest games on paper that remain on the schedule for Stanford are the matchups on the road against Notre Dame and the home game against Louisville, both teams that could be potential CFP contenders with the new 12-team format. However, if their early-season play is any indication of how good this year’s team can be, home field advantage against SMU and Wake Forest, and having to face a new-look NC State team could put the Cardinal in prime position to pick three straight wins. The Louisville game will also be a tough one, but games against Cal, who they usually always match up well against, and another new-look team in San Jose State, are two winnable games that should the Cardinal take care of, putting them in prime position to clinch a bowl.

With the Syracuse win in week four, the Cardinal proved that a high octane offense does not phase them, holding a team that scored 30 points in its first two games to only 24. Entering the game, the Cardinal were 9.5 point underdogs and ended up coming away with the two point win. That is the third straight time that Stanford defied the odds, with the team going into the TCU game also as 9.5 point underdogs only to lose by only one touchdown and in the game against Cal Poly, Stanford was favored by 15.5 and ended up winning by 34 points.

What that means is that not only has Stanford played very strong in all three games, but even in the loss, they were in position to win the game up until the very end. And in a conference like the ACC where each team plays physical defense while also knowing how to score points on offense, the Cardinal having been able to play tough and hold their own in every game could lead to even more success this season. As the year progresses and each game gets more important, each result could very well be the difference between making a bowl or coming up just short.