Stanford MBB to Play Minnesota in Acrisure Invitational

Stanford men's basketball officially has another game scheduled for their 2025-26 season. Back in April, the Cardinal announced that they would once again be a part of the Acrisure Series in Palm Springs. The first game of the tournament is set to take place on Thursday November 27--Thanksgiving Day--with tip-off scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (PT).

Last season, the Cardinal took the trip down south, where they faced off against Grand Canyon in a fun matchup between two west coast powers. Unfortunately, the Lopes got the better of the Cardinal, 78-71, giving Stanford their first defeat of the season.

This season, the Acrisure Series decided to revamp their format, and it looks way more interesting.

On Tuesday, November 25th, there will be five games taking place: San Jose State vs Tulsa, Northern Iowa vs Loyola Chicago, Cal Baptist vs San Diego, Iowa vs Ole Miss, and Grand Canyon vs Utah. Wednesday will feature Fresno State vs Pepperdine, as well as winners and losers of day one matching up against each other.

Stanford doesn’t play until Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 27th. To start the day, Colorado will play San Francisco, Washington will play Nevada, and Santa Clara will play Saint Louis. The last game of the day will be Stanford vs Minnesota, at 6:30.

On Friday, the 28th, Stanford plays once again, either at 4PM PT or 6:30PM PT. The Cardinal is 1-5 all-time against the Golden Gophers, last meeting in the 2012 Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. The lone win in program history came in the championship game of the 2012 Postseason NIT in New York City, while the series dates back to the 1949-50 campaign. 

Despite the history, this is an incredible draw for the Cardinal. They get to play a struggling power five team, who still has an interesting team. Stanford is coming off the better season, and will have to travel far less to play in Palm Springs. It definitely looks like a winnable game for the Cardinal.

Game two will be a good one as well. They get to play either South Bay arch-rival Santa Clara who they beat on the road last year, or get to play a fun A10 opponent in Saint Louis. Against its possible second-round opponents, Stanford is 52-28 against Santa Clara, including a last-second game winner from Jaylen Blakes last season, and 2-0 against Saint Louis, with the last matchup in 1973 in New York City.

Overall, this is a great opportunity for head coach Kyle Smith and the Cardinal. Breakout candidates will have a chance to shine under the bright lights, and the coaching staff will be able to prove that they have one of the best staffs in college basketball.

Tickets go on sale Friday, July 25 at 10 a.m. PT and are available online at Ticketmaster.com, the official ticketing provider of Acrisure Arena. Tickets are also available at the Ticketmaster Box Office at Acrisure Arena.  Admission includes access to all games on that date.