Grading Stanford MBB's Season Through Non-Conference Play

Despite a couple of bad home losses, Stanford looks to be in decent shape heading into ACC play

Dec 27, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal guard Jeremy Dent-Smith (25) dribbles against CSUN Matadors forward Mahmoud Fofana (right) during the first half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

After 13 hard fought games, the Stanford Cardinal have officially wrapped up their 2025-26 non-conference slate with a record of 11-2.

Stanford had a good start to the season, beating Portland State, Montana, Montana State, and Louisiana to begin 4-0. Ebuka Okorie began his breakout at that point, Chisom Okpara showed a huge step up, and Benny Gealer turned into a great all-around guard.

However, they lost to Seattle at home, and it looked like that defeat could be detrimental to their season. Looking back though, the Redhawks are actually a solid team, and the loss doesn’t mean as much as it originally seemed.

Stanford bounced back from that setback well, taking down Minnesota in the Acrisure Invitational semifinal despite being down double digits early.

They followed that up by beating mid-major powerhouse St. Louis in the championship courtesy of a beautifully designed play that consisted of an intentionally missed free throw by Okorie, a rebound by AJ Rohosy, and a clutch three pointer from Gealer to win the game. They followed up that dramatic win by beating Portland at home.

After a three-game win streak came Stanford’s worst loss of the season. The Cardinal fell to UNLV while struggling in the last few minutes to get defensive stops. Stanford fell to 7-2 on the year.

After the heartbreaker though, the Cardinal got back on track, dominating the final four games of non-conference play. They beat San Jose State, UT Arlington, Colorado, and CSU Northridge, with Okorie dominating the final two games. Stanford now has tons of momentum heading into conference play.

It’s pretty tough to give Stanford a grade, as many different people had very different expectations for what the season should be. Many thought the Cardinal would be awful, while others expected them to do well. Personally, I expected Stanford to do pretty well, similarly to how they ended up performing. However, I expected those losses to be to better teams.

Stanford's grade

We will grade Stanford’s non-conference play at a B. The Cardinal’s season has been solid thus far, but it certainly hasn’t been incredible. They have some big 50/50 wins, proving that they are a legit team. However, they also have a few losses that hurt what seemed like their great start.

While they aren’t considered the best team in the ACC, or even one of the top ones, Stanford has proven that they are a March Madness caliber team and can be in contention if they do well during conference play.

And while wins and losses have been a positive for Stanford, what truly elevates their grade is player performance. Going into the season, it was expected that seniors would lead the charge, specifically the returners.

Transfers and freshmen ended up taking over instead. Okorie has become the star player despite expectations of coming off the bench. Oskar Giltay, another freshman, has done the dirty work, getting blocks and rebounds at a high level.

Even transfers Jeremy Dent-Smith and AJ Rohosy have proven to be massive pieces to the success of Stanford, starting many games and having a big impact on the team's performance as well.

There is no doubt that Stanford has had a good start to the season, but there is definitely more opportunities to succeed or fail. With 18 games left, the Cardinal have a chance to make history on The Farm, or they could end up struggling in ACC play, and ruining the momentum they've built over the past season and a half.