A college football game will be played in Australia for the second straight year, as Stanford and Rice are moving their matchup to Sydney on Aug. 26, "one week before the start of the season for most major college teams," according to Jon Wilner of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. Cal and Hawaii also opened the '16 season in Sydney, marking the first college football game "played in Australia in decades." When the opportunity arose for Stanford this season "to move a road game against Rice to Allianz Stadium in Sydney, it jumped at the chance" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 1/31). The Cal-Hawaii game drew 61,247 fans to the 83,500-seat ANZ Stadium. Instead of playing in that venue, Stanford-Rice will be held at the 45,500-seat Allianz Stadium. The game "will be Stanford's second game ever outside the United States," as it played Arizona in Tokyo in '86 (AP, 1/30). It will be Rice's first time playing outside the U.S. and the "earliest the Owls have opened the season" (CHRON.com, 1/30). TLA Worldwide worked to organize the game in Sydney (THE DAILY).
