The Acrisure Series Field Will Be More Difficult for Stanford to Manage in 2026

While we are in the midst of the most crucial part of Stanford’s 2025-26 season, the Cardinal are already making moves for next season. Per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, Stanford is returning to the Acrisure Series for the 2026-27 season after winning the cup this season.

The Acrisure Series is a multi team event (MTE) that takes place on Feast Week down in Palm Desert at Acrisure Arena. Over the past few seasons, there have been different formats for the tournament, such as individual games, or small four-team tournaments that take place.

This tournament isn’t new to Stanford, and neither are the formats, because not only have the Cardinal played in the Acrisure Series the last two years, they have played in both formats as well.

In Kyle Smith’s first season as head coach, Stanford made their debut in the new tournament. They took on Grand Canyon in a singular game, in which the Lopes took down the Cardinal 78-71 to hand Stanford their first loss of the season after a 5-0 start. While the first trip down south wasn’t successful, the second one surely was.

This season, Stanford played in a four-team event called the Acrisure Invitational, part of the Acrisure Series. In the semifinal game, the Cardinal came back from down double digits against Minnesota to pick up a crucial win.

But they didn’t stop there. After St. Louis took down Santa Clara, that set up a championship game between the Cardinal and Billikens. Stanford found themselves down double digits once again, but the Cardinal found a way to come back, and a Benny Gealer unbelievable buzzer beater that sealed the deal.

After a pair of trips down south, it’s clear that Kyle Smith and company are ready to head down again. The competition later this year could be as intriguing as ever.

Ten teams have already been announced, although there will likely be more coming in the future. Currently, there are four power conference teams (Stanford, USC, South Carolina, Arizona State) as well as six mid-majors (Utah State, Grand Canyon, Fresno State, Nevada, Santa Clara, Seattle).

This is another perfect piece of scheduling from the Stanford program. With so much travel in conference play, staying in-state for a Feast Week tournament is a great idea. And the quality of opponents is still absolutely there.

There are power conference teams, dominant mid-majors, teams from the West Coast, teams from East Coast, teams in the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12, Mountain West, WCC, and more. The talent and diversity of teams that Stanford will face is certainly a positive as it will help the Cardinal better prepare for their ultimate goal of playing meaningful games in March.

We're still a ways away from the tournament though, and the only thing on the Cardinal’s mind right is the game ahead. With a crucial game against Cal today, Stanford is looking to avenge the loss from a few weeks prior and split the series with their rivals, earn a quad one win, and better their chances at a higher seed in the ACC tournament a few weeks down the line.