Stanford and Rice to open 2017 college football season in Australia
For the second straight year, the college football season will start in Australia with a Pac-12 team taking part.
The 2016 college football season started in Sydney, Australia, with the Cal Golden Bears taking on the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. Cal went home with a 51-31 win, but Hawaii was the only of the two teams who wound up going to a bowl game and Cal eventually fired head coach Sonny Dykes after the season.
As college football looks to keep expanding its international horizons, the season opener will take place “in the land down under” again in 2017.
Coincidentally or not, another Pac-12 team will be going to Australia to start their season this year.
The Stanford Cardinal will take on the Rice Owls out of Conference USA in Sydney, in a game that was originally scheduled to be a home game for Rice in Houston, Texas on Sept. 2. The two teams played in the regular season finale for each just this past season, and as expected Stanford won easily (41-17) over a Rice squad that finished 3-9.
As was the case last season with Cal and Hawaii, the 2017 college football season opener will be earlier than a typical season opener. The game will occur on Aug. 26 (Aug. 27 in Australia) in order to accommodate the international travel involved.
Excited to kick off our season in Sydney on Aug. 26 (Aug. 27 in Australia). Experience of a lifetime for our student-athletes! #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/R7vbrfJpOL
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) January 30, 2017
As was the case last season with Cal and Hawaii, the 2017 college football season opener will be earlier than a typical season opener. The game will occur on Aug. 26 (Aug. 27 in Australia) in order to accommodate the international travel involved.
Stanford has a big game on the slate for their second game next season, with a road game against USC on Sept. 9. With the rescheduling of their season opener, they will now have a bit of extra time to prepare for an early season showdown that seems sure to carry big implications in the Pac-12 and nationally.
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College football fans and followers in America will get another early treat this year, with a better team involved this time around.