Stanford Basketball Playing for First 20-Win Season in Five Years on Saturday

Saturday will be a big day for Stanford basketball. In what will be the last game of the regular season, a win would give the program a substantial momentum boost as its enters its first ever ACC tournament. That win would also mean reaching a mark that has not been reached in half a decade.

At 19-11, the Cardinal earning a win against No. 14 Louisville would give them their first 20-win season since 2019-20, a year in which no NCAA tournament was held during COVID. During that season, the Cardinal finished seventh in the Pac-12 and earned the No. 7 seed in the Pac-12 postseason tournament, losing their first round matchup against No. 10 Cal by a score of 63-51.

If there was a March Madness tournament that season however, it is highly unlikely that the Cardinal would have made it to the dance, considering the lower seed that they got in the conference tournament and how they lost in the first round to a lower-seeded program.

But this season's team, assuming it can pull it off and earn its 20th win, could be in a much different position.

The ACC is one of the more talented conferences in college basketball, with some believing it to be the best conference historically, with storied programs such as Duke and North Carolina being the crop of college basketball for years.

In what was supposed to be a transitional year for the Cardinal, seeing as though they were in their first year in the conference and brought in a new head coach prior to the season, they have defied expectations and guaranteed themselves a winning record in the conference and a finish in the top half of the standings.

With Georgia Tech sitting one game behind the Cardinal, a win against Louisville on Saturday would give them the seventh seed in the conference tournament, giving them the chance to compete against a more formidable opponent in the first round.

With 15 out of the 18 ACC teams qualifying for the tournament, the Cardinal can avoid facing teams such as Duke or North Carolina in the opening game.

As far as March Madness goes, the Cardinal are not currently expected to qualify, with the latest bracketology having Clemson, Louisville and Duke as the three teams to represent the ACC.

But, if they are able to get past the first couple of rounds of the ACC tournament and make a deeper run, they could wind up in the discussion and at least be considered for a spot in the NCAA tournament as opposed to the NIT.

Regardless of the outcome Saturday, Stanford will receive a bye in the opening round of the ACC tournament, with only seeds 10-15 competing. The furthest the Cardinal could drop would be No. 8. If they land the No. 7 seed, where they are currently, then they'd face the winner of the 10/15 matchup. If they dropped to No. 8, they'd end up against No. 9.

Right now, Virginia and Virginia Tech hold the No. 9 and 10 seeds, while Syracuse is sitting at No. 15 in the ACC. Stanford defeated all three teams during the regular season.

There is no question that Saturday will be a big game for Stanford and the pressure will most likely be at an all time high, but if the Cardinal go into it with the mindset that it is just another game and do what they have been doing, then they could find themselves surprising a lot of people.