Sports360AZAlthough the BCS Championship is in New Orleans, it’s a safe bet people will be keeping a close eye on the 2012 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
It isn’t often a three versus four matchup is the subplot, but that may be the case when Oklahoma State takes on Stanford at The University of Phoenix Stadium.
In Stanford’s Andrew Luck and OSU’s Brandon Weeden, the Fiesta Bowl features two of the best signal-callers in the country.
Widely considered a Heisman Trophy front-runner and likely top overall pick in next spring’s NFL draft, the polished junior Luck has led the Cardinal (11-1, 8-1) to their second consecutive BCS game, while guiding first-year head coach David Shaw’s offense to over 481 total yards and nearly 44 points per game.
Weeden has taken a less conventional path to collegian stardom. The 28-year old senior and former minor league pitcher has thrown for over 4300 yards and 24 touchdowns in leading the Cowboys (11-1, 8-1) to the Big 12 title.
Regardless of how they got here, the Fiesta Bowl knows they hit a homerun.
“That (two marquee quarterbacks) makes it really exciting,” Fiesta Bowl Executive Director Robert Shelton said Sunday night. “They’ve got amazing receivers. We’re looking for sky-high television numbers.”
After pounding in-state rival Oklahoma 44-10 Saturday, many believed the Cowboys would leap-frog second-ranked Alabama and play LSU in the title game, but that wasn’t the case which is perfectly fine for the folks in the yellow blazers.
“You couldn’t ask for a better matchup,” Fiesta Bowl Chairman Duane Woods explained.
Kickoff January 2 is set for shortly after 6:30PM Arizona time with television coverage on ESPN.
