Because I'm doing my best to look at the bright side of college football's new reality, I'll present this schedule overview without sadness, sarcasm, or cynicism. Just the facts as they're laid out before us.
The Atlantic Coast Conference -- that's Stanford's new football conference now, for those who aren't aware -- announced its schedule rotation through the year 2030. (That's rather optimistic considering Clemson and Florida State are already house shopping in the SEC, but no cynicism, remember?)
Under the model released on Monday, schools in the western branch of the conference (Stanford, Cal, and SMU) will play each other every year and play the other 14 conference teams three times each over the next seven years, playing a total of eight conference games each season. The actual dates won't be released until January 31, but here are my first thoughts on Stanford's 2024 opponents, both in and out of conference.
Conference Home Games
Louisville (No prior matchups)
This is a rivalry in the waiting. Cardinal vs. Cardinals. Throw the records out.
SMU (Stanford leads, 1-0)
The Cardinal beat SMU 7-0 back in 1936, but you probably knew that already. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for SMU, going back to the Pony Express days of Eric Dickerson and Craig James, so it's fun to see them on the Stanford schedule.
Virginia Tech (Stanford leads, 1-0)
The 2011 Orange Bowl was definitely the moment when all things became possible for Stanford football. At the time it seemed too good to be true -- the Stanford Cardinal playing in a BCS bowl game! We couldn't have foreseen three Rose Bowls and a Fiesta Bowl over the next five years, but that's exactly what happened. When Stanford dominated Virginia Tech that evening, pulling away in the second half for a 40-12 win, suddenly everything about Stanford football changed. That Orange Bowl win was the beginning. The series renews this fall.
Wake Forest (1-1)
The Cardinal and the Demon Deacons split a home-and-home series in 2009 and 2010, with Stanford sleep walking through the first half of a 9am Pacific time start in North Carolina, then getting some payback with a decisive 68-24 win the following year on the Farm. Here's hoping this game gets a 7:30pm kickoff.
Conference Road Games
Cal (Stanford leads, 60-46-10)
Imagine you're ten years old and your family moves to a new town where you don't know anyone. You're sad and lonely. But on the first day of school, you notice one familiar face in the classroom -- your biggest nemesis from back home. Are you happy to see this person because they remind you of old times? Or do you swear a blood oath on the spot never to forgive any of this person's past transgressions? The answer to both questions is the same.
Clemson (Clemson leads, 1-0)
Sure, Clemson has been one of the top programs in the country over the past five years or so, but they've been ducking the Cardinal since 1986, so what does their recent success even mean? It should also be noted that once mighty Clemson is currently 4-4, for whatever that's worth.
NC State (No prior matchups)
I wish I had something to say about this, but the only thing I know and will ever know about N.C. State is that Jim Valvano led their basketball team to the most unlikely national championship of my lifetime.
Syracuse (No previous matchups)
These football programs might never have played, but there's some interesting history between the two athletic programs. Back in the early days of Twitter, Stanford snapped up the handle @SUAthletics, but in 2013 the University traded the account to Syracuse for a case of oranges and (presumably) a player to be named later, then adopted the current @GoStanford handle. True story. And remember when a tree sprouted up on the old Block S Stanford logo? That change coincided with the rise in the football program's recruiting profile. When Stanford coaches showed up to visit East Coast schools, too many high school coaches and recruits associated the old Block S on their polo shirts with Syracuse instead of Stanford, so the logo was altered. Branding, after all, is everything.
Non-Conference Home Games
August 31 -- TCU (TCU leads, 3-0)
Remember the Alamo Bowl? I just read the recap I wrote back in 2017, and the ending was still disappointing even if the game was enjoyable to watch. That was the last time Stanford played TCU. In 2022 the Horned Frogs played in the national championship game, famously losing 65-7 to Georgia, and the hangover from that loss has stretched into this season as TCU is currently 4-4. Even so, TCU will provide a tough early season test for the Cardinal.
September 7 -- Cal Poly (No prior matchups)
When I ran into the mother of one of my former students in Target last spring, she told me that her son had gotten a Division I scholarship to play quarterback at Cal Poly. I nodded along, even though I was quite certain that Cal Poly was not a Division I program. It turns out we were both right -- Cal Poly is a Division I FCS program, which, I suppose, is what Division II used to be. Cal Poly is struggling at that level, so this should a non-threatening non-conference game.
Non-Conference Road Games
October 12 -- Notre Dame (Notre Dame leads, 21-14)
I've gone back and forth on my feelings about this series, but now that Stanford will have 3-4 long flights for conference games per season, it makes less sense to add another trip to South Bend, Indiana, every other year. Of course, the Irish currently have some type of partnership that could conceivably lead to actual membership in the ACC, but I'll admit that I wouldn't miss them if they disappeared from the schedule. Given the choice, I'd much rather see Stanford pursue long-term agreements with UCLA and/or USC. Ideally the Cardinal could play one school in odd years and the other in even years. I'd assume both Los Angeles schools would be amenable to a home-and-home arrangement like that, and again -- I wouldn't miss Notre Dame.
By dropping from the Pac-12's nine-game schedule to the ACC's eight-game slate, that opens up an extra non-conference slot, and given all of the travel already on the schedule, I can't imagine the football office will be interested in adding any more plane flights. The local options would be to start the upcoming San José State series a year early (Stanford plays at SJSU in 2025), or possibly schedule a lower-division team like Sacramento State or UC Davis, but all three of those schools already have twelve games set for 2024.
Since that likely won't work, there are two schools up north (Oregon State and Washington State) with LOTS of open spaces on their schedules, and since Stanford is travelling for both of those matchups this fall, one or the other might be willing to make a return trip next fall. I don't think we're done with the Pac-12 just yet.
It's hard to know what will happen, but it will definitely be interesting schedule. Stay tuned.
