
The Stanford men's basketball team has played in just one NCAA tournament over the past 18 years, and the Cardinal are working on a 12-year drought if they do not make it this season. With four wins in a row, and in six of their past eight games going into the ACC Tournament, they had at least played their way back into the bubble and could have really strengthened their chances with a strong showing at the conference tournament.
That all disappeared on Tuesday, and it may have resulted in their tournament bubble popping for the season.
Not only did Stanford fail to get the job done in the opening round of the ACC Tournament on Tuesday, but it lost in brutal fashion, dropping a 64-63 decision to Pitt at the buzzer.
Pitt's Demarcus Minor scored the winning basket, following up his own missed shot just before the final horn sounded, capping off a chaotic and haphazard possession and leaving the Stanford bench completely stunned.
Here is a look at the play.
15-SEED PITT IN THE FINAL SECOND!
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) March 10, 2026
What a way to kick off the ACC tournament pic.twitter.com/MaSCjHraEs
Stanford entered the tournament as the 10th seed in the ACC Tournament, and there is no way the conference is putting 10 teams into the main NCAA Tournament. That meant Stanford was not only going to need at least one win here, but it was probably going to need a couple of wins.
Instead, it dropped its first game to the 15th-seeded Pitt team that needed an overtime win in its regular-season finale just to qualify for its own conference tournament.
That is simply a devastating loss for the Cardinal at the worst possible time. It is also one that is almost certainly going to extend their NCAA Tournament drought to a 12th season.
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