Notes

• All times on this page are local to the host venue.
• See the Schedule page for all games and events, links to opponents' sites, and maps of opponents' venues.
• For security reasons we don't publicize the team's hotel choice. If you are an FBC member and would like to book into the team hotel, email Eileen Roche specifying which trip you are taking.
• Be sure to check the Travel Blog for the latest promotions and trip reports!

Fan Plans!

This year there is no "travel committee" as such. If you want to help organize fan activities on one of these trips, write to The FBC and volunteer!

Below is some information about the logistics and local attractions for some away trips.

Texas (Nov 11)

The Cardinal play at Texas ( in Austin at 7pm on a Friday evening. Just a one-game trip; fly home on Saturday or hang out in Texas's most civilized town for a day.

Getting There and Back

United has an 8:30am nonstop from SFO that arrives at 2pm. This service and its return nonstop on Saturday at 2pm use a small regional jet with limited seating and are probably now full. There are several one-stop flights from all local airports, changing in Houston or DFW. At the Southwest website there are "wanna get away" price specials on this route.

Fan Plan!

Sam Chang and the Stanford Club of Austin are planning a dinner meetup near the Erwin Center prior to this game. Email directly to Sam Chang. If you will hang out in Austin for the weekend, keep the Saturday afternoon open for a Stanford/Oregon football game party. The Stanford Austin club is working on a pre-game picnic "tailgate" meet, and a game-watching party at a local venue TBA. Contact Sam for details.

Tickets

Texas averages 4,700 fans per game (just 100 fewer than Stanford) in an arena that seats 16,000. Hence there will be seats available at the door, although to be certain of seating in the lower ring, one should order in advance from the Longhorns' Ticket Office when they start selling individual seats.

UConn & Xavier (Nov 21 & 25)

The Cardinal spend Thanksgiving on the road. Where will they eat Thanksgiving dinner? Presumably in Cincinnati, being thankful to be out of Connecticut?

Getting There

The first game is at 4 (four) pm in Hartford CT on Monday 21 November. There are no flights from Bay Area airports that depart on 11/21 and arrive before 2pm, allowing time to get to the game, let alone check into a hotel. However there are several red-eye flights out of SFO leaving 10-11pm on Sunday, changing in Minneapolis or Chicago, arriving Hartford around 9am.

The second game is at 11am on the campus of Xavier on Friday 25 November. This poses the daunting prospect of passing all of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thanksgiving Thursday on the road. In Cincinnati? Or Hartford?

To begin with, FBC member Robie Bushnell reports that the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is near Hartford, in Springfield MA. You could easily visit it either the day of the game (if you got enough sleep on your red-eye flight), or the day after.

Now, how to get from Hartford to Cincy? Wait, glowing softly in between is New York. Consider this for an itinerary:

• Sunday-night red-eye, SFO to BDL. Check into hotel, nap, see 4pm game.
• Tuesday morning catch the Amtrak from Hartford at 7:45am; change trains in New Haven; at 11am you step out of the door of Penn Station in New York.
• Tuesday afternoon and evening, and most of Wednesday, do interesting things in NYC.
• Wednesday afternoon catch Delta's 7pm from JFK (or 7:40pm from LGA) nonstop to CVG. Late arrival at hotel.
• Thursday have a nice Thanksgiving dinner somewhere in Cincy.
• Friday morning see game at 11; then catch United's 4pm departure to SFO via DEN.

You could remain in New York into Thursday morning and see the Macy's parade. However, there are no Friday morning flights that would get you to Cincinnati in time to see the game. You would have to fly on Thursday afternoon; but then your Thanksgiving dinner would be in a food service court at JFK.

Tickets

It's essential to book UConn seats well in advance. This year, the Stanford Women's Basketball Office has a small allocation of tickets to sell at $22/each. To reserve yours, call the office (723-0824) or email Eileen Roche. Do that first; if they have sold out, go to the Huskies ticket site when single seats are available.

Xavier's team averaged 2,500 seats sold last season, while their Cintas Center arena holds 10,000. Hence, seats should be available at the door.

Fresno State (Dec 4)

Annnnnnd a good time was had by all...

UW & WSU

Thanks to our now being a PAC-12, there is no Washington trip this year!

USC & UCLA (Dec 29 & 31)

This year the Cardinal play UCLA at 2pm on Saturday 12/31—New Year's Eve! Leaving us with the awkward choice of trying to fly home on that day or celebrating New Year's in Los Angeles. Who scheduled that? Anyway, on to the standard advice:

It's a tossup whether to fly or drive for the L.A. trip. Given good weather, the door-to-door travel time is almost the same. On the plus side, if you drive, you needn't rent a car to get around LA. On the minus side, that drive home up I5 on Sunday night gets pretty long, even if you break it with a late supper at Harris Ranch. Well, seriously, nobody wants to be out on I5 on New Year's Eve. But driving back from L.A. on New Year's Day might be quite relaxing. No traffic.

Traditionally the fan hotel has been the Courtyard Marina Del Rey.

Tickets

USC doesn't draw a big crowd to their nice arena, and all seats are general admission for women's games, so plan to buy tickets at the door.

However it is a different story at UCLA! For 2011-12 UCLA has been ousted by construction from Pauley Pavilion to the much smaller Collins Court at the nearby John Wooden Recreation Center (the Schedule page has a link to a Google map). Collins Court seats 1,800, just over the UCLA team's average attendance. Also, the UCLA Ticket Sale Site says that no single-game tickets will be sold for their games against Stanford, Tennessee, and other "big" events. You must buy a $29 "mini-plan" to attend the Stanford game.

Wally Mersereau spoke with the UCLA ticket office (email of 3 Oct) and was told that, although the online purchase web page seems to be allocating a specific row and seat number, that is not the case! Despite what the online ticket order form seems to say, all seats at the Wooden Center are general admission. Doors will open one hour before game time; be there at least that early for a good seat!

Things to Do

The following are some things that FBC members have enjoyed on previous trips to LA.

• The Getty has lots of fine art in a stunning setting. On a clear spring day, great views of downtown. Room to wander and sit, and a nice cafeteria.
• The Huntington has even more, and more varied exhibitions than the Getty, and a vast garden. Nice cafe and tea room.
• Hancock Park, including the La Brea tar pits, the Page Museum in which the Tar Pit discoveries are displayed and explained, and right next door, the massive L.A. County Museum of Art. Just north of Hancock Park at 419 N. Fairfax is Canter's Deli, hit it for a pastrami, blini or an egg cream.
• The Norton Simon in Pasadena is another world-class art museum. On the way back, for something completely different, stop at the Soda Pop Stop, with 450 kinds of sodas and sarsaparillas and 500 kinds of bottled beer.
• The Skirball Center is a Jewish cultural center and a world-class museum.
• Gamble House is a magnificent turn-of-the-century villa, designed and stuffed full of furniture by Greene and Greene.
• Los Angeles: there is a "there" there, and you can find it on a walking tour led by the Los Angeles Conservancy. The docent-led tours are mostly on Saturdays, but if the tournament games conflict, get one of their self-guided tours and do it on Sunday.
• Disneyland! 'nuff said!
• Descanso Gardens, not as vast a garden as the Huntington but just as big a variety of plants and lots of places to sit and meditate.
• Is the Universal Studios Tour corny and kitschy? You betcha, and we loved it!
• For birders, Bolsa Chica ecological preserve in Huntington Beach has a great variety of shore birds visible from an easy walking trail.
• Not enough gardens? Here's a list of great LA gardens with eight more besides the Descanso and Huntington.

Utah & Colorado (Jan 12 & 14)

The Cardinal's first PAC-12 excursion to the mountain states, although they played Utah last year (and only squeaked out a win).

Sorry, we have no info on this trip. If you go, please update us with how you went, and what the towns and hotels are like.

ASU and Arizona (Feb 2 & 4)

Getting There & Back

This year we play at ASU in Tempe (really Phoenix) on Thursday at 7:00pm MT, then in Tucson on Saturday at 2:00pm MT.

The typical itinerary is to fly in and out of Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix (PHX). Let's allow two hours to get from the arrival gate at Sky Harbor to the far-distant rental car center, and to drive across town to the Wells Fargo Arena (Google map of route), and to walk 3 or 4 blocks from their distant parking lot, and to grab a hot dog and find your seat in time for the 7:00pm start. That means your Thursday flight needs to touch down no later than 5:00pm (preferably earlier).

The only suitable SJC non-stops are two flights by US Airways, and the same can be said for OAK. From SFO there are three United nonstops and two by US Airways. (Hipmunk is ideal for this kind of search, you can very quickly find out just what flights arrive and leave within time brackets.)

If you've a lot of energy or a couple of double capuccinos, you might plan on driving to Tucson that night after the game, so that you can make just one hotel booking, in Tucson. Then you have a free day-plus in the Tucson area before the 1pm Saturday game at Arizona.

Even on a Saturday it takes a good three hours to return from Tucson to Sky Harbor, shed the rental car, and get through security; hence the earliest return flight you dare book for Saturday would be 7pm! United and US Airways each have a late-evening departure from PHX to SFO. There are no evening flights back to either SJC or OAK; you must return to those airports on the Sunday.

Tickets

For the Arizona game it is always safe to buy at the door, although if you want to order ahead, hit the UA website linked from the Schedule page.

For the ASU game in Tempe, it is important to order ahead, as the Wells Fargo Arena is always packed for this game. Go to the Sun Devils site linked from the Schedule page or call (480) 727-0000.

Things to do around Tucson

Here is a nice article from the New York Times titled "36 Hours in Tucson." It covers several interesting things other than the old standards like:

• Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has more than 300 live animal species and two miles of paths. Located 14 miles west of Tucson in Tucson Mountain Park.
• Catalina State Park—bird-watching and hiking.
• Arizona State Museum (on University of Arizona campus) interprets the history of Southwestern cultures.
• Mission San Xavier Del Bac, an impressive example of Spanish mission architecture, built in 1783-97.
• Sabino Canyon in Santa Catalina Mountains offers hiking as well as narrated excursions aboard shuttle buses.
• Sosa-Carillo-Fremont House in downtown Tuscon, one of Tucson's oldest adobe buildings with period furnishings and changing exhibits. Walking tours may be arranged by calling 520 622-0956 (Saturdays only).

Things to do around Phoenix

• The Desert Botanical Garden is always worth a visit.
• The winter home and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West gives a good tour.
• Shopping in Scottsdale.
• The Heard Museum has ten galleries of native cultures and art, including ethnological, historical and contemporary objects of Southwestern Native Americans, daily artist demonstrations, more.
• The Pueblo Grande Museum contains a prehistoric Hohokam village ruin that includes a platform mound, ball court and irrigation canals.

Oregon & OSU (Feb 16 & 18)

Fan Plans! - Oregon

Once again, Andrew Nelson and the Eugene Stanford Alumni will host a pre-game brunch! That will be around noon before the 2pm game in Eugene, Saturday February 18th. No pre-payment for this; we just need a rough count of attendees.

Also, we will pre-purchase a block of seats so we can get a bunch of red shirts in the general vicinity of the bench. Prices TBA but...

PLEASE TELL US NOW HOW MANY SEATS YOU WILL WANT: email travel (at) stanfordfbc.org !
No orders will be taken after the Washington game of 1/21.
Tickets will be delivered and money collected at the "Behind the Bench" after the UCLA game of 2/12 (or, in Oregon at the pregame brunch).

OSU

No special fan plan for the OSU game Thursday evening, February 16th. You can order Beaver tickets at their Online Store or purchase at the arena. Note that Section D is the section behind the visitor's bench.

Getting There

Many fans fly to Portland, rent a car, drive down to Eugene, and return to Portland to fly home. It is possible (although more expensive) to fly SJC-EUG, changing planes in Portland.

It is also possible to drive from Palo Alto, but you should allow for a five day trip. This year the games are OSU in Corvallis at 7pm Thursday and 2pm Saturday at OU in Eugene, giving an itinerary like this:

• Wednesday drive 5 1/2 hours to Ashland, OR (many good motels and restaurants);
• Thursday morning drive another 4 hours to Eugene; check into hotel; rest;
• After a nap, drive on 1 hour to Corvallis for the evening game; afterward return to Eugene to crash.
• Friday and Saturday morning at liberty in Eugene;
• Saturday brunch with the alumni; then the 2pm game. Afterward, drive 4 hours south on I-5 to Ashland (plenty of motels, no need to prebook even for this late arrival);
• Sunday have breakfast in Ashland, complete the drive home.

Your cost for gas, lodging, and food will not be much greater than the cost of flying Southwest or Alaska to Portland and renting a car. The only risk is of a serious storm blocking the I-5 passes between Ashland and Redding.

The traditional fan hotel in Eugene has been the Valley River Inn and it is still a nice place to stay. Other options include the Hilton Eugene. Two possibly-cheaper options that are in easy walking distance of Matthew Knight Arena are the Best Western New Oregon and the Day's Inn Eugene. A third hotel, a bit further east but still walking distance, is the Holiday Inn Express, which Wally found "acceptable."

Things to do, places to eat

• Via Magazine's articles on Eugene (2009), on Corvallis (2003), and a head-to-head comparison between the two towns (2010).
• The local paper's "Best of Eugene" listing for 2012 may be of interest.
• Tours of U of O Campus, including such amazing landmarks as the fraternity house featured in the movie "Animal House."
• University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
• Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon.
• Scenic day trip driving to Coos Bay/North Bend.

Cal (Mar 4)

Stanford plays at Cal on Sunday March 4th at 6pm. At the "Behind the Bench" talk after the OSU game, director of BB operations Eileen Roche said there would be a booster bus. Details TBA.

Eileen also said there were no plans for ordering a block of tickets for fans who rode the bus.

It is possible to order Haas Pavilion tickets online from the Cal online boxoffice...

However! — as fans found out in early January, the best seats the online sales form can offer were in sections 4 and higher. (Here is a seating chart.) Section 1 is behind the visitor bench. Section 17 is directly across from it. And the ushers at Haas are known for being strict about making you sit in the seat on your ticket stub.

If you call the Cal ticket office directly at (800) GO BEARS (800-462-3277) you can ask for reserved-seat tickets in section 1, 2, or 17, and at least as of early January, you could get them.

PAC-12 Tournament (Mar 7-10)

How will the tournament work this year? Come back in a few months and find out!

Tournament Tickets

TBS

Getting there

As noted above, it's a toss-up as to whether you drive or fly to L.A. Numerous flights are available to/from all three Bay Area airports, but book early if you want to be sure of getting a return flight on the Saturday night.

Where to Stay

If you are coming for the whole shebang, you may as well stay near USC and the Galen Center, as in prior years. One hotel in easy walking distance is the Radisson Hotel Los Angeles Midtown at USC, just across Figueroa St. from the campus and about one block south of the Galen Center. Some fans have stayed two blocks north at the Vagabond Inn and were quite pleased. From either hotel it is a 1.5-mile walk, drive or taxi ride up Figueroa Street to the Staples Center.

Of course, if you have a car, you have all the hotels of the L.A. basin to choose among. Several FBC fans like the walkability of Santa Monica, with lots of shops and restaurants. The Doubletree offers two-room suites around $280/night. Or just use a site like Kayak to find something that suits your price range and interests.

NCAA Sub-Regional (Mar 17 — 20)

The Cardinal are expected to play the first round of the NCAA in Spokane. More TBS.

NCAA Regional (Mar 24 — 27)

If the Cardinal advance that far, they will likely play the Sweet Sixteen and then the Elite Eight games in Fresno. More TBS.

Tickets

TBS

Getting There

TBS

Final Four! (Apr 1 — 3)

The Final Four is in Denver, CO.

Getting There

TBS

Tickets

TBS

Things to do

TBS