After announcing the schedule pairings for men’s basketball, the Pac-12 did the same for women’s basketball last week. Below is a breakdown of how it shakes out for Stanford.
Stanford will open things up at home against Cal on Friday, December 23rd. Stanford defeated Cal 97-74 last season at Maples Pavilion but did not face them in Berkeley two days later due to COVID.
After facing Cal at home, Stanford will host Arizona and Arizona State the week of December 29th-January 2nd. Stanford swept the Arizona schools last year, playing them on The Farm. The game against Arizona was competitive as Stanford won by just six points (75-69).
Following the Arizona schools, Stanford will head to Berkeley to face Cal between January 6th-8th. Stanford men’s basketball will be at Cal on Friday, January 6th. It’s possible we see a doubleheader on that Friday. I don’t know what that would look like exactly, but maybe a 5:30 PM tipoff for one game and an 8:00 PM tipoff for another. It’s also possible the women’s game is played on Saturday or Sunday. We’ll just have to see what they do there.
After taking a trip to the East Bay to battle the Golden Bears, Stanford will then face UCLA and USC on the road between January 13th-15th. Stanford dominated both schools on the road last year. Neither game was close.
After welcoming the Southern California schools to Palo Alto, Stanford will host Colorado and Utah between January 20th-22nd. Stanford once again swept both schools last year and dominated them at home (Spoiler: Stanford went 16-0 in the Pac-12 last year).
Next, Stanford will stay at home as they'll battle Oregon and Oregon State between January 27th-29th. When they faced the Oregon schools at home last year, neither game was close.
Stanford will then head to the Pacific Northwest to face Washington and Washington State on the road between February 3rd-5th. Stanford crushed Washington State on the road last year, but it was actually a pretty tough home stand for Stanford last season as they defeated Washington State 61-54 and Washington 63-56 in their final two games of the regular season. The pressures of a perfect league season seemed to play a role, but then also the Washington schools just played really well. So this could be a tough road trip for the Cardinal.
The following week, Stanford will stay on the road as they'll face Arizona and Arizona State between February 10th-12th. As was said above, Stanford had little trouble with ASU last year, though Arizona gave them some trouble.
Stanford will then return home to face UCLA and USC between February 17th-19th. Both teams should be improved from last year, so Stanford shouldn’t expect this to be a walk in the park. Senior Day will be on that week.
Finally, Stanford will close on the road against Colorado and Utah February 23rd-25th. This was a tough road trip last year as Stanford defeated Utah 83-73 and Colorado 60-52. This should once again be a tough road trip.
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