Stanford Travels to Miami for Pivotal ACC Matchup

Stanford will have a key opportunity to get themselves off the tournament bubble

Jan 24, 2026; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal guard Ryan Agarwal (11) and his teammates prepare to play during the second half against the California Golden Bears at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images | Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

Stanford is currently in the midst of a two game losing streak, where losses to Duke and Cal have negatively impacted the Cardinal’s hopes at a March Madness run. Not only have they put themselves on the wrong side of the bubble, but now face a tough road ahead, which will ultimately determine their postseason fate.

The Cardinal have 11 games left in which they need at least seven wins to stay in contention. And that all begins on Wednesday when Stanford travels down south to take on the Miami Hurricanes.

Miami is entering the game at a successful 16-4 record, and is currently 5-2 in the ACC. While they don’t have too many great wins, “good” losses to Florida, BYU, Clemson, and Florida State prove that the Canes don’t lose to teams worse than them. Unfortunately for Stanford, they are certainly not at the same level as Miami.

Heading into this matchup, the Canes are ranked at No. 36 in the NET rankings, while Stanford has fallen to No. 72 after their back-to-back losses.

Stanford has had a successful season thus far, sitting at 14-6. Wins over ranked North Carolina and Louisville programs show that the Cardinal have the ability to beat anyone. However, a recent home loss to Cal exposed that without Chisom Okpara, they are just not the same team.

Miami’s roster is full of talent coming in from the transfer portal, and an example of outside players meshing well. The Canes top five scorers are all incoming players, with four of the five being transfers.

Miami is led by Malik Reneau, a transfer from Indiana. He is putting up 19.6 points per game, and is Miami’s biggest star. Coming from Michigan, Tre Donaldson is putting up 16.0 points a night. His veteran guard play is helping the Canes succeed on both ends of the floor.

Miami’s 3-5 players are Shelton Henderson, a freshman, Tru Washington, a transfer from New Mexico, and Ernest Udeh Jr, an incomer from TCU. All three are putting up at least 7.0 points per game.

Despite Okpara’s season-ending injury, Stanford still has their main star in freshman Ebuka Okorie. He is putting up 21.7 points per game, and despite recent performances, he is still an all-ACC first team talent.

Jeremy Dent-Smith’s recent play has bumped him up to 8.5 points a game, and three straight 18+ point games prove that Dent-Smith might be the one to help salvage Stanford's season. While he hasn’t had a huge game recently, Benny Gealer’s consistent 9.8 points per game could turn into 20 at any moment if he gets hot from beyond the arc.

Miami comes in as a heavy favorite, with ESPN giving the Canes a 83.6% chance to win at home.

We are going to pick Miami. With a lot of travel and little proven success on the East Coast, it’s tough to pick Stanford. In addition, it seems like the Canes are a fairly consistent program, which makes the task of taking them down even more difficult.

It’ll be a late one on the East Coast, starting at 9 p.m. local time (6 p.m. PT), but it is surely one to tune into. If Stanford pulled off an improbable win, that would go a long way to getting them firmly off the NCAA tournament bubble.