It's official, the No. 15 TCU Horned Frogs (10-3) and No. 13 Stanford Cardinal (9-4) are the two teams that will play in this year’s Alamo Bowl.
The Alamo Bowl is scheduled for 8 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 28, at the Alamodome. The Alamo Bowl officially announced the matchup for its silver anniversary game at a news conference Sunday.
It's official! No. 13 @StanfordFball will be taking on No. 15 @TCUFootball in this year's Valero Alamo Bowl on December 28th! pic.twitter.com/W4oFHieLYH
— Valero Alamo Bowl (@valeroalamobowl) December 3, 2017
For the fourth year, the Valero Alamo Bowl had the first pick in both the Big 12 and Pac 12 after the six CFP bowls.
TCU was No. 11 in the CFP rankings before losing to Oklahoma 41-17 in the Big 12 title game on Saturday. Stanford dropped one spot from No. 12 after falling to USC in the Pac-12 championship game.
TCU played in the Alamo Bowl for the first time in January 2016, rallying for a 47-41 victory over Oregon in a three-overtime thriller after trailing 31-0 at halftime. The Horned Frogs were ranked No. 11 and Oregon No. 15.
USC beat Stanford for the Pac-12 title Friday night and Oklahoma defeated TCU in the Big 12 title game Saturday to earn a berth in the CFP semifinals. Two of TCU’s three losses this season were to OU. USC (11-2) is projected to play Wisconsin in the Fiesta Bowl.
Stanford has never played in the Alamo Bowl. The Cardinal has been led this season by junior running back Bryce Love, a candidate for Heisman Trophy. Love has rushed for 1,973 yards and 17 touchdowns this season.
This year’s Alamo Bowl will be the first since the Alamodome underwent a $60 million renovation that includes new video boards and other technology enhancements. The concession areas also have been enhanced.
The Alamo Bowl is broadcast by ESPN annually and ranks as one of the most watched bowl games outside of the New Year’s Day bowls.
This season, the Alamo Bowl is projecting an economic impact of more than $40 million on San Antonio, according to a news release. Bowl officials will announce details of its scholarship program at an awards luncheon on Dec. 13.
