Stanford Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for the Cardinal

Schedule

Non-Conference Schedule

Nov 6 – Montana

Nov 9 – Cal State Fullerton

Nov 12 – Long Beach State

Nov 16 – Santa Clara

Nov 19 – Maryland Eastern Shore

Nov 22 – William and Mary

Nov 25 – Oklahoma (Hall of Fame Classic)

Nov 26 – Butler/Missouri (Hall of Fame Classic)

Dec 1 – UNC Wilmington

Dec 14 – @ San Jose State

Dec 17  – San Francisco

Dec 21 – San Diego State (Al Attles Classic)

Dec 29 – Kansas

Stanford’s non-conference schedule shakes out fairly well for the Cardinal, who are not looking for the wins this year to earn an at-large bid. The fact that they will only play four games away from home, including a “neutral” site game in San Francisco, will allow fans to get a look at the development of players on a roster better suited to compete next season.

The Hall of Fame Classic should be an interesting event overall, as only Oklahoma has a roster that looks to be of NCAA Tournament caliber. A loss to the Sooners seems imminent, but their game against Butler or Missouri on the second day should provide a very winnable challenge for the young team.

When it comes to Bay Area games, Stanford is lucky to avoid Saint Mary’s, the best team in Northern California, and will instead play both WCC squads at home, with a road trip to play the worst team in the Mountain West. The matchups against Santa Clara and San Francisco will both be competitive games, but Stanford’s roster upside should push them over the top.

The premier game for Stanford fans to attend will be the final game of 2019, a home game against Kansas. The Jayhawks, a No. 1 seed in Busting Brackets’ way-too-early Bracketology, will be one of the best teams in the country, making this game more of a showcase than a true competition.

Overall, Stanford should handle their non-conference schedule relatively well, with only a few losses against the top competition. While they probably won’t enter the Pac-12 season off a win, the players should have plenty of confidence heading into 2020.

Pac-12 Matchups

Home-Road: Cal, Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Colorado, Utah

Home: Arizona, Arizona State

Road: UCLA, USC

Unfortunately for the Cardinal, they will be forced to play three of the Pac-12’s top four teams twice this season. The only exception to this will be Arizona, who they play at home in mid-February. With these seven games featuring seemingly lopsided matchups on the schedule, Stanford will need to win a majority of the remaining 11 games if they aim to compete in the middle of the conference.

Their road trip to Southern California may be the most important week on the schedule. If they can take one, or both, of the games in Los Angeles, the Cardinal should be in decent shape to compete among the middle five teams. If they lose both games, a bottom three finish may be in the cards.