Stanford Cardinal ACC Tournament Hub: Schedule, Bracket, Predictions

Five months ago the season tipped off, and the Stanford Cardinal's 2025-26 campaign got underway. Now here we are, 31 games later, and it is officially time for postseason basketball.

This week, Stanford plays in their most important conference tournament in years. After a 20-11 season where they finished even in conference play at 9-9, the Cardinal enter the conference tournament, with little margin for error. The Cardinal will be on the lookout for at least one, but hopefully two victories, which may be enough to solidify their spot in the NCAA tournament.

ACC tournament schedule

March 10-15, 2026

Spectrum Center • Charlotte, NC.

(All Times ET)

Tuesday, March 10

First Round

2 p.m. – No. 10 Stanford vs. No. 15 Pitt (ACC Network)

4:30 p.m. – No. 11 SMU vs. No. 14 Syracuse (ACC Network)

7 p.m. – No. 12 Virginia Tech vs. No. 13 Wake Forest (ACC Network)

Wednesday, March 11

Second Round

12:00 p.m. – No. 7 NC State vs. Stanford-Pitt winner (ESPN/ESPN)

2:30 p.m. – No. 6 Louisville vs. SMU-Syracuse winner (ESPN/ESPNU)

7 p.m. – No. 8 Florida State vs. No. 9 California (ESPN2/ESPNU)

9:30 p.m. – No. 5 Clemson vs. Virginia Tech-Wake Forest winner (ESPN2/ESPNU)

Thursday, March 12

Quarterfinals

12:00 p.m. – No. 2 Virginia vs. Wednesday 12:00 p.m. winner (ESPN/ESPN2)

2:30 p.m. – No. 3 Miami vs. Wednesday 2:30 p.m. winner (ESPN/ESPN2)

7 p.m. – No. 1 Duke vs. Wednesday 7 p.m. winner (ESPN/ESPN2)

9:30 p.m. – No. 4 North Carolina vs. Wednesday 9:30 p.m. winner (ESPN/ESPN2)

Friday, March 13

Semifinals

7 p.m. – Thursday afternoon winners (ESPN/ESPN2)

9:30 p.m. – Thursday evening winners (ESPN/ESPN2)

Saturday, March 14

Championship

8:30 p.m. – Semifinal winners (ESPN)

Stanford predictions

It’s going to be tough to predict how Stanford does in this bracket. After four straight wins, the Cardinal are rolling, and it looks like they have found the right groove at the right time. However, they could hit a halt at any time, especially due to the fact that they are essentially playing a road game each time they take the court.

The first round matchup against Pitt appears to be manageable on the surface. Stanford took down Pitt just a couple of weeks prior to the tournament starting, where they beat the Panthers 75-67 at home. In this one, we'll predict Stanford to win once again, but it may be a close one. Give us Stanford 71-66.

In the second round, Stanford will take on the NC State Wolfpack, whom they just played a few days prior. This one is also tough to predict, but after a road win just a few days ago, and a four game losing streak that the Wolfpack will still be riding when they tip off on Wednesay, we are going to pick Stanford to win again, 82-80.

Head coach Kyle Smith and his nerdball strategy will be ready with a tweaked gameplan that will lead to yet another victory.

Unfortunately for Stanford, the quarterfinal game is where things are going to go south in the ACC tournament. The Cardinal would match up with the Virginia Cavaliers, whom they lost to 70-55 back in January. While Stanford certainly has a chance, we are going to pick the Cavaliers to roll onto the semifinal, winning 81-71. Virginia would just be the fresher team at that point.

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