 9 USC en route to breaking a seven-year bowl game drought with an appearance in the 2009 Sun Bowl against Oklahoma.Stanford changed several position coaches and its defensive strategy in the offseason, and though the Cardinal returned 17 of 24 possible players from the previous year's starting lineup, few believed the Cardinal would be among the best teams in the country.In the annual preseason poll of media members covering the Pacific-10, Stanford was picked to finish fourth in the 10-team conference.