Stanford was known as the “Cardinal” for its first two decades, then changed its mascot to “Cardinals” until 1930. It was “Indians” from 1930 to 1972, then “Cardinals” again from 1972 to 1981. In 1975, a student vote to change to “Robber Barons” was not approved by the administration. In 1982, the mascot was again changed to “Cardinal.”

3. They went there

Stanford alumni boasts 19 astronauts, including Sally Ride, the first American woman in space; golfer Tiger Woods, actress Reese Witherspoon, billionaire investor Peter Thiel, Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Reed Hastings (Netflix).

4. Runner-up

Stanford quarterback Jim Plunkett won the Heisman Trophy in 1970 and the schools has six second-place finishers: John Elway (to Herschel Walker) in 1982; Toby Gerhart (to Mark Ingram) in 2009; Andrew Luck (to Cam Newton) in 2010 and again in 2011 (Robert Griffin III); Christian McCaffrey (to Derrick Henry) in 2015 and Bryce Love (to Baker Mayfield) in 2017.

5. Making friends

The Stanford Marching Band — historically known for its irreverent humor — performed controversial skits each time BYU made the trip to Palo Alto. In 2004, the band staged a halftime show centered around polygamy. In 2022, the band’s halftime performance was called, “Gay Chicken” and mocked temple marriage of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which sponsors BYU. The band produced a statement after the 2022 game expressing regret for the terms it used in the performance.