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Stanford Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Cardinal

By Jerran Anderson

Feb 7, 2021; Stanford, California, USA; The Pac-12 logo appears on the court as seen before the game between the Stanford Cardinal and the California Golden Bears at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 7, 2021; Stanford, California, USA; The Pac-12 logo appears on the court as seen before the game between the Stanford Cardinal and the California Golden Bears at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports /
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Stanford Basketball Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Stanford Basketball Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports /

Schedule outlook

Stanford basketball doesn’t have a very tough season opener on Nov. 9 against Tarleton State. Then they’ll face Santa Clara (Nov. 12) on the road and host San Jose State (Nov. 15) and Valparaiso (Nov. 17) before a big road test against the defending national champion Baylor Bears (Nov. 20).

They’ll have two early Pac-12 basketball tests before January with the Colorado Buffaloes (Nov. 28) and Oregon Ducks (Dec. 12) on the schedule before returning to non-conference action against Dartmouth on Dec. 16.

Stanford basketball will face the Texas Longhorns (Dec. 19) with upset on their mind in the Pac-12 Coast to Coast Challenge in Las Vegas. If they can shake things up there before closing out their non-conference slate, they could be a squad that’s on the bubble or in the Field of 64.

After that, the Cardinal will play in the Diamond Head Classic from Dec. 22-25 where they’ll face the Wyoming Cowboys to open things up. After that, they could square off with Northern Iowa/Liberty, two potential NCAA Tournament squads at the mid-major level, depending on results. Also featured in the field are BYU, South Florida, Vanderbilt, and Hawaii.

Stanford basketball returns to their conference slate with home contests on Jan. 2 with the California Golden Bears followed by the UCLA Bruins (Jan. 6) and USC Trojans (Jan. 8). The Cardinal will have to set a different tone in that trio of games, especially against the Trojans.

The last time the teams faced each other back on March 3, the Cardinal fell 79-42 in last year’s final regular-season game on the conference schedule.

After that, two games on the road against the Washington Huskies (Jan. 12) and Washington State Cougars (Jan. 15) will test their resolve as a threat in the conference. Two games at home against the Arizona Wildcats (Jan. 20) and Arizona State Sun Devils (Jan. 22) before they close out January against USC on Jan. 27 and UCLA on Jan. 29 on the road.

Those nine games should be a barometer for how February goes for Stanford basketball. They’ll open the month against Washington State (Feb. 3) and Washington (Feb. 6) at home before traveling to Oregon (Feb. 10) and the Oregon State Beavers (Feb. 12).

The Utah Utes (Feb. 17) and Colorado (Feb. 19) will be their final run at home before closing out the schedule on the road against California (Feb. 26), Arizona (March 3), and Arizona State (March 5). They’ll have their work cut out for them to close the season out heading into the Pac-12 Conference Tournament.

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