Stanford Men's Basketball's Path to March Madness Begins Tonight

How is Stanford positioned right now, and what do they need to do in order to move up?

Jan 17, 2026; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal guard Ebuka Okorie (1) looks on against the Duke Blue Devils in the first half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Not too long ago, it looked as though Stanford men's basketball was on track to make their first NCAA tournament appearance since the 2013-14 campaign when they went 23-13 overall. Right now the Cardinal are sitting at 15-9 (4-7 in ACC play) and need a run of wins over their final seven games to have a legitimate shot at making it to the tourney.

They could have a bit of an edge over other teams that end up on the bubble, since Stanford has actually performed fairly well in their Quad 1 games, notching a 4-4 record. Because of some clutch victories, Stanford is currently ranked as the No. 68 program in the NET rankings.

So far this season, only 30 programs have as many as four Quad 1 victories, which basically is a win against a top-tier opponent based on the NET ranking system. This includes a home game against a NET 1-30 team, a neutral venue contest against a 1-50 program, or a road game against a team ranked 1-75.

Stanford is the lowest-ranked program with four-plus Quad 1 wins, with Cal sitting at No. 58 being the next-closest. After the Golden Bears, you have to go all the way up to the No. 44 ranked UCF program to find another team that isn't quite a top-tier team that has still racked up four wins against tough opponents.

This is all meant to say that there could be hope for the Cardinal to make the tournament after all, but they'll need to make sure and continue collecting victories the rest of the way. Here is the rest of their remaining schedule, along with where they are currently ranked in the NET ranking.

Dissecting Stanford's remaining schedule

At No. 148 Boston College Wednesday, February 11 at 6:00 p.m. (PT)

At No. 67 Wake Forest Saturday, February 14 at 1:00 p.m. (PT)

At No. 58 Cal Saturday, February 21 at 3:00 p.m. (PT)

No. 123 Pittsburgh Wednesday, February 25 at 5:00 p.m. (PT)

No. 34 SMU Saturday, February 28 at 3:00 p.m. (PT)

At No. 89 Notre Dame Wednesday, March 4 6:00 p.m. (PT)

At No. 29 NC State Saturday, March 7 at 11:45 a.m. (PT)

There are plenty of games that present opportunities here, with road games against No. 67 Wake Forest, No. 58 Cal and then a home matchup against No. 34 SMU standing out as games where Stanford could take some big steps forward in their quest.

The same goes for their games against No. 148 Boston College and No. 122 Pittsburgh as potential pitfalls. While those games wouldn't help the Cardinal's chances much, they'll serve as must-win games anyway, since a loss or two in those ones would hurt their resumé pretty badly.

By the definition of a Quad 1 game, Stanford has three more remaining, with their road games against No. 67 Wake Forest, No. 60 Cal and No. 27 NC State counting for all three. The Wake Forest and Cal games could be fairly winnable, as the Cardinal are ranked right there with each program.

As things stand right now, there are only 12 programs across the country that have racked up six Quad 1 wins. If Stanford were able to win two of those three remaining games, then they would be in some elite company when the season wraps up. You could also argue that they would be worthy of a tournament bid at that point.

Okorie is the key to the Cardinal making it to the NCAA tournament. The program hit a skid when Chisom Okpara was lost for the season, dropping five straight. It took Okorie dropping 40 against Georgia Tech to help get them back in the win column. He's average 22.4 points per game this season as a freshman, which is impressive.

He's going to have to continue to produce at least that much for Stanford to have a shot at pulling off some of these wins, too. Tonight the fun begins, as Stanford takes on Boston College with tip-off scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (PT).