The 2023-24 Stanford men’s basketball schedule is now out in full, which means it is time for me to break down what lies ahead for the Cardinal. Enjoy!
GoStanford.com: 2023-24 Men’s Basketball Schedule
Coming off a season in which they went 14-19 overall and 7-13 in the Pac-12, Stanford will begin their season at home on Monday, November 6th against Cal State Northridge at 8:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area. The Matadors are coming off a 7-25 overall season in which they went 4-16 in the Big West. Stanford should breeze to an easy victory in this one. We’re talking at least 10 points, though in truth, this should be a 15+ point victory.
Up next will be Sacramento State at home on Friday, November 10th at 6:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area. The Hornets are coming off a season in which they went 14-18 overall and 7-11 in the Big Sky. This should be smooth sailing for Stanford as well. At least a double digit victory and once again ideally in the 15+ point range.
Stanford will remain home to face Santa Clara on Tuesday, November 14th at 6:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area. Santa Clara is coming off a strong 23-10 season in which they went 11-5 in the WCC and lost to Sam Houston in the first round of the NIT by a final score of 58-56. Last time these two teams faced was at Santa Clara and the Broncos won 88-72. This is the first real test the Cardinal will have as the Broncos are a solid program with NCAA tournament aspirations of their own. Given they are at home, this is a game Stanford has to win. It doesn’t matter if it’s even by one point, but Stanford does need to win this.
Stanford will wrap up their opening home stand on Friday, November 17th against Eastern Washington. The Eagles are coming off a stellar season in which they went 23-11 overall and 16-2 in the Big Sky, reaching the second round of the NIT. They even won a couple of Pac-12 games last season. They went into Berkeley and defeated Cal 50-48. Granted that Cal team was historically terrible in the final year of the Mark Fox era, but still. And then they also defeated Washington State 81-64 in the NIT. The bottom line is the Eagles cannot be taken lightly. They’ve shown they can take flight against Pac-12 teams and if Stanford overlooks them, this could be an NCAA tournament resume crushing loss.
Stanford will then head to Paradise Island, Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis. Up first will be Arkansas on Wednesday, November 22nd at 4:30 PM PT on ESPNU. Arkansas is coming off a season in which they went 22-14 overall and 8-10 in the SEC, losing to UConn 88-65 in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament. Arkansas was an 8 seed in their region, defeating 9 seed Illinois 73-63 and then defeating 1 seed Kansas 72-71 in the Round of 32. Arkansas is no joke and will probably be favored in this game. If Stanford can beat Arkansas, that would be a major arrow up for their tournament chances.
Stanford will also play on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. How they perform against Arkansas will determine who they face. Memphis, Michigan, North Carolina, Northern Iowa, Texas Tech, and Villanova are the other programs in the event. Across the board, it’s a strong field. If Stanford could go 2-1 in the event and win their opening game against Arkansas, that would be a success. Especially if they come into the event with a 4-0 record.
Stanford will then come back home to face San Diego on Sunday, December 3rd at 4:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks. The Toreros went 11-20 overall and 4-12 in the WCC last season. Stanford should win this game by 10+ points and once again ideally 15+.
Stanford will then take a two week break for finals and get back to action on Sunday, December 17th against Idaho. Tipoff is set for 2:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks. The Vandals went 10-22 overall and 4-14 in the Big Sky last season. Another game that Stanford should win by 10+ points though ideally 15+.
Stanford will then wrap up non-conference play on Thursday, December 21st against San Diego State. Tipoff is set for 6:00 PM PT on CBS Sports Network. The Aztecs went 32-7 overall and 15-3 in the Mountain West last season. They had a fabulous run in the NCAA tournament, falling to UConn in the national championship game by a final score of 76-59. They also defeated Stanford 74-62 on The Farm in November. This is definitely the toughest non-conference game the Cardinal will have and might even be the toughest game they’ll have all season. If they could keep this game within 10 points, that would be huge.
Stanford will then have a have home stand against the Arizona schools. On Friday, December 29th it will be Arizona State at 8:00 PM PT on ESPN2. On New Year’s Eve, it will be Arizona at 1:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks.
Last season, Arizona State went 23-13 overall and 11-9 in the Pac-12. They defeated Nevada 98-73 in the 11 seed play-in round of the NCAA tournament and then fell to TCU 72-70 in the second round. Stanford went 0-2 against Arizona State. Arizona went 28-7 overall and 14-6 in the Pac-12, losing to Princeton in their opening NCAA tournament game. Stanford defeated Arizona 88-79 at Maples last season and fell to Arizona 95-84 in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament. If Stanford could get a home sweep here, that would be big time.
Stanford will then hit the road to face UCLA and USC. On Wednesday, January 3rd Stanford will face UCLA. That will tipoff at 6:00 PM PT on ESPN2. On Saturday, January 6th Stanford will face USC. That will tipoff at 1:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks.
Last season, UCLA went 31-6 overall and 18-2 in the Pac-12, losing to Gonzaga in the Sweet Sixteen by a final score of 79-76. Stanford fell to UCLA both times they faced last season, though they actually played UCLA better on the road, keeping it within single digits. USC went 22-11 overall and 14-6 in the Pac-12, losing to Miami (FL) in their opening NCAA tournament game as a 7 seed. Stanford fell to USC 85-75 by 10 on the road in their lone meeting. If Stanford could find a way to split this road series, they’d take it.
Stanford will remain on the road one more night as they’ll head to Corvallis to face Oregon State on Thursday, January 11th at 8:00 PM PT on ESPN2. Oregon State is coming off a season in which they went 11-21 overall and 5-15 in the Pac-12. Stanford swept Oregon State with ease last season. A must win game here. Stanford cannot lose this one.
Stanford will then come home to face Utah on Sunday, January 14th at 2:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks. Utah went 17-15 overall last season and 10-10 in the Pac-12. Stanford had a heart breaking loss at home to Utah last season but redeemed themselves by defeating them in Salt Lake City. This is a home game Stanford has to win. They can’t lose to the Utes at Maples again.
Stanford will remain home to welcome the Washington schools to The Farm. Washington State on Thursday, January 18th at 8:00 PM on Pac-12 Networks and Washington on Saturday, January 20th at 6:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks.
Last season, Washington State went 17-17 overall and 11-9 in the Pac-12, falling to Eastern Washington in the NIT. They found a way to sweep Stanford 2-0 last year, winning both games by an average of 2.5 points per game. Washington went 16-16 overall and 8-12 in the Pac-12. Stanford split against Washington, winning handily at home and losing by a lot on the road. Ideally, Stanford gets a home sweep here.
Stanford will then have a road game at Cal on Friday, January 26th at 7:00 PM PT on FS1. Cal is coming off the worst season in program history as they went 3-29 overall last season. As a result, Mark Fox was fired and now finds himself as the new Director of Student-Athlete Relations and NIL Partnership at Georgetown. Whatever that means.
The new head coach of the Golden Bears is Stanford alum Mark Madsen, who has done as good of a job as he could be expected to do at bringing in some talent. Cal should be much better this season and given that one of their three wins was at home against Stanford, this game in Berkeley projects to be a tough one for the Cardinal. If Stanford can find a way to win this game, even if it’s by one point, they should be really happy. Cal is going to be fired up in this one as they always are when Stanford comes to town.
Following their road game at Cal, Stanford will stay on the road to face Arizona State and Arizona. The game at Arizona State will be on Thursday, February 1st at 6:00 PM PT on ESPN2 and the game at Arizona will be on Sunday, February 4th at 5:00 PM PT on FS1. If they could get a split here, that would be fantastic.
Stanford will then return home to face UCLA and USC. UCLA on Wednesday, February 7th at 6:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks. USC on Saturday, February 10th. Tipoff TBD. Ideally, Stanford holds serve here. A split wouldn’t be terrible, but they really would like to win both of these games.
Stanford will then head back out on the road to face Washington and Washington State. Washington on Thursday, February 15th at 8:00 PM PT on ESPN2 and Washington State on Saturday, February 17th at 3:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks. A split here would be fine. Washington State looking like the more likely road win of the two.
Stanford will then return home to face Oregon and Oregon State. Oregon on Thursday, February 22nd at 8:00 PM PT on ESPN2 and Oregon State on Saturday, February 24th at 2:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks. Oregon went 21-15 overall and 12-8 in the Pac-12 last season. They fell to Wisconsin 61-58 in the quarterfinals of the NIT. Stanford has done a good job at home against Oregon the past couple seasons, they should be eying a home sweep this weekend.
Stanford will then hit the road to face Utah and Colorado. Utah on Thursday, February 29th at 5:30 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and Colorado on Sunday, March 3rd at 6:00 PM PT on FS1. Colorado is coming off an 18-17 overall campaign in which they went 8-12 in the Pac-12. Colorado fell to Mark Madsen’s Utah Valley Wolverines in the second round of the NIT. Stanford lost both games to Colorado last season, so this won’t be an easy weekend for them. This has historically been a tough road trip for the Cardinal, so they better come prepared. A road split would be fine, provided they've taken care of business up to this point. They can't get swept on this trip, though.
Finally, Stanford will host Cal on Thursday, March 7th to close out the regular season. Tipoff time is TBD. If recent history is any guide, Stanford should win this game. But looking at this big picture-wise, this is always a toss up game. I could see Stanford winning in Berkeley and then folding at home. Or vice versa. Regardless, this is a game Stanford has to win. Losing at Cal is forgivable, but they have to defend their home floor against their rival. Especially on Senior Night.
Following the regular season, Stanford will head to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament. That will be dates March 13th-16th. I have picked Stanford to finish 5th in the Pac-12 Preseason Media Poll, which means I have them just missing out on getting a first round bye. If that is where they finish, they should be on the bubble for the NCAA tournament. How things pan out in Vegas could be huge to determining their postseason fate.
Looking at things from an even bigger picture, this very well may be a make or break season for head coach Jerod Haase. Entering his eighth season on The Farm, Haase has guided Stanford to only one NIT and zero NCAA tournament appearances. It’s been quite a dry spell for the Cardinal as they haven’t made the tourney since 2014.
If we are counting the 2019-20 season which had the postseason canceled due to COVID, then we can count it as two NIT and zero NCAA tournament appearances for Stanford during Haase’s time on The Farm. That Stanford team went 20-12 overall and 9-9 in the Pac-12. Based on all the intel I’ve gathered, the NCAA tournament was a long shot for that team, but the NIT was virtually a lock. Especially since they lost to Cal in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament. So, even with the COVID season factoring in, that’s still zero NCAA tournaments in eight seasons. If Stanford can’t make the dance this season, one will have to wonder if Haase will be able to get the Cardinal there.
As far as what I think Stanford’s chances are of making the dance, I think they’re probably the best they’ve had since that 2019-20 season. With freshman Kanaan Carlyle and grad transfer Jared Bynum, the guard play should be there. With Andrej Stojakovic, Brandon Angel, Michael Jones, and Spencer Jones, the 3-point shooting and scoring should be there, and then with James Keefe, Max Murrell, and Maxime Raynaud, there should be solid post play. Defense will be the biggest question mark, but just looking at those pieces, one can see a way for them to make the NCAA tournament.
Going back to the schedule, Stanford appears to have a better schedule than last year in which they tried to schedule almost too well with that road game at Wisconsin that was played outdoors followed by that home game against San Diego State on short rest. They’re getting more time at home before hitting the road to the Bahamas while also still giving themselves a chance to get some quality out of conference wins. Ultimately, conference play is going to be the most important part of the season and the schedule seems to reflect that Stanford understands this. It’ll be interesting to see how this season shakes out for Stanford and what impact the schedule has on their tournament chances.
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