Stanford band PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 01: The Stanford Cardinal marching band performs during the 100th Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio against the Michigan State Spartans at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2014 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

On Saturday, November 19th, the Stanford football team will face off against Cal in the 119th Big Game between the schools. However, the 119th edition will be missing a key piece to the rivalary that’s almost always there: the Stanford Marching Band.

The famous Stanford Marching Band is entertaining, but also controversial. This season, the band hasn’t traveled to a single road game while serving a ban from traveling for past incidents. On Tuesday, it was announced the band hadn’t resolved its issues to the point the school would allow them to travel to Cal.

“I was actually really surprised,” Ashley Song, a Stanford freshman, told NBC Bay Area. “We have a lot of school spirit. Our student section is wild during the game.”

That student section on the road in Berkeley won’t be as loud without the band, which has been banned from road games since May of 2015. The original ban came when the university investigated violations by band members for “sexually explicit and offensive acts, hazing and violations of alcohol and controlled substances.”

The ban was lifted for the past two bowl games, but won’t be lifted for the upcoming regular season game against Cal.

“I mean, I’m a little bummed that they won’t be there because it’s a big part of the school and big part of the spirit,” said Mayte Guerrero, of the Stanford Axe Committee.

Another Axe Committee member, Marissa Luna, added, “Without them there at the football game, it will be a little bit sad. But I know that our school spirit will definitely make up for it.”

The Stanford Band did release an online statement where they said they understood the punishment and are working on addressing it. As a result of not being able to play at the Cal game, the band turned over its transportation money in order to give five busloads of students free transportation to the game Saturday.

In a similar statement released by the school, Stanford said the Student Affairs staff is working with the band to meet certain standards so the band could travel in the near future. The band’s case will be looked over once again before the bowl season gets underway.

Sadly, this all means we won’t get a possible 2016 recreation of the famous 1982 battle between the schools.

Meanwhile, the Cal Marching Band is taking this opportunity to poke fun at the Stanford Band and school as a whole.

[NBC Bay Area]

About David Lauterbach

David is a writer for The Comeback. He enjoyed two Men's Basketball Final Four trips for Syracuse before graduating in 2016. If The Office or Game of Thrones is on TV, David will be watching.