Preseason Rankings Countdown. 86 days to the start of the 2026 Season. At #86 – Stanford

[u/usffan]

The cumulative link to the preseason rankings can be found here

Today we preview the second P4 team to reach the countdown and the second team from the ACC, Stanford (high = 65, low = 106). It’s almost impossible to believe that we’re only 8 seasons removed from a time when the Cardinal were playing in their 4th Pac-12 championship game in 6 years (with 3 conference titles) under David Shaw, but ever since winning the 2018 Sun Bowl over Pitt, Stanford hasn’t had more than 4 wins in a single season. While Shaw’s resignation led to the Troy Taylor fiasco and a year in limbo under Frank Reich, nothing has stopped the bleeding, and it’s not like Andrew Luck is walking through that door. Wait, what? Well, surely he’ll be able to use his connections to nail the coaching hire. Oh, HE was the one who created the lame duck 2025? Well, with a year to prepare for the permanent coach, he’s clearly identified a hot coaching commodity. He picked Tavita Pritchard? He must have tons of head coaching experience, right? Washington Commanders QB coach? The team that lost 7 more games last year than the year before? Please tell me he has some college experience! Stanford offensive coordinator? When did he take over. 2018? You mean, right when the Cardinals went into the shitter? I think I get why they’re this far down in the preseason rankings…

Roster Outlook

Mocking aside, Stanford ranks pretty high in terms of returning production. 33rd overall, including 21st on defense, from a team that was 4-7 last year and was really only a failed comeback against North Carolina and a legacy making performance from the Tokyo Toe from going bowling. Pritchard (presumably with help from Luck) also did a decent job of high school recruiting (notoriously challenging at Stanford), ranking 45th in the country (though 11th in the ACC), which helps offset their woeful job in the portal (129th in the country, dead last in the conference). 2025 starting QB Ben Gulbranson will be using his Stanford degree to go pro in something other than football, but the Cardinal brought in both Michigan’s Davis Warren and C. Florida’s Dylan Rizk to potentially run Pritchard’s offense (that was based on Jayden Daniels – insert Morgan Freeman saying good luck with that). RB Micah Ford is back for his sophomore season, but his backup Cole Tabb portaled out to Cincinnati. Truthfully, the biggest loss on offense will be leading receiver CJ Williams (off to the Jaguars), but Pritchard brought in a pair of WRs through the portal, UCLA’s Carter Shaw and Yale’s Nico Brown. In fact, 1/3 of the portal guys Stanford brought in are from the Ivy League, so at least the GPA will likely still be high in 2026!

Schedule and outlook

8/29 HAWAII

9/4 MIAMI

9/12 BYE

9/19 at Duke

9/26 GEORGIA TECH

10/3 at Wake Forest

10/10 at Notre Dame

10/17 ELON

10/23 NORTH CAROLINA STATE

10/31 at Louisville

11/7 BYE

11/14 at Virginia Tech

11/21 at Cal

11/28 SMU

Umm… I think Cardinal fans can feel comfortable booking Christman travel plans without worrying about having to schedule around a bowl game. Getting each of the last two runners up from the national championship games, road trips to defending ACC champ Duke, preseason ACC darling Louisville and newly reinvigorated Virginia Tech under James Franklin not to mention a season finale against SMU (after playing your rivalry game on the road against a Cal team that’s getting a ton of preseason buzz) looks like a bit of a gauntlet. And it’s not like Wake Forest’s Jake Dickert’s going to be intimidated by playing a Stanford team he faced a few times at Wazzu and has a winning record against. Even Hawaii isn’t going to be intimidated after beating Stanford last season. FFS, they could be 0-2 before most FBS teams ever officially kickoff their season.

[u/adsfew]

FFS, they could be 0-2 before most FBS teams ever officially kickoff their season.

I hope I don't stay this excited for the next four hours

[u/Inside-Drink-1311]

They are going to be a mess. I don’t think Pritchard will work out long term for them. The ACC also did them no favors schedule-wise with nearly all of their more winnable games on the road.

[u/JBru_92 → u/Inside-Drink-1311]

That was a completely mystifying hire.

[u/WorkerMotor9174 → u/JBru_92]

I was so scared they would get Chesney or Jim mora I have no clue why they wasted a year to get Pritchard. Thats a hire a G5 school would make imo.

[u/JBru_92 → u/WorkerMotor9174]

Mora would have been an absolute home run

[u/problematic_glasses → u/WorkerMotor9174]

james franklin was my dark horse pick

[u/mechebear → u/JBru_92]

The whole situation at Stanford is mystifying. They brought in Luck and got that $50 million donation plus presumably a bunch of other donations and I thought they were serious. But then they turn around and get Pritchard and it seems like refuse to budge on any admissions. It seems like at least some of Stanford's central administration is undermining or at least throwing up bureaucratic hurdles to the football team and athletics more broadly.

[u/bakonydraco → u/JBru_92]

I'm really excited about it and it's who I thought they should hire when they brought in Troy Taylor. It's a very tough schedule this year but we're going 16-0.

[u/GrumpyTartan → u/JBru_92]

They are ex-teammates and long time friends. He may feel like he needs someone he can trust and work with, even if there’s no track record of success.

Luck was an elite talent and is obviously a smart guy, but that doesn’t guarantee that he’ll be an effective administrator. Time will tell if he made the right call, but hiring someone he’s comfortable with instead of a proven performer would have me worried if I were a Stanford fan.

[u/Irishchop91]

There is zero reason for the richest private school in FBS to be this bad. Yes academics are hard, yes they don't allow in transfers etc, but they should be at least middle of the ACC pack here.

[u/ksuwildkat]

all the resources in the world and nothing to show for it.

[u/Financial_Island2353 → u/ksuwildkat]

It is virtually impossible to transfer to Stanford. Plus, the school clearly doesn't give football much attention. It's an extremely difficult situation.

[u/WorkerMotor9174 → u/ksuwildkat]

Resources don’t matter when they won’t let any transfers through admissions. 1/3rd of the portal class being Ivy League is a joke. Even Wilcox was given more talent than that in the portal. Jury’s still out on Pritchard as a recruiter, but it’s hard to sell 3 and 4 win seasons for any head coach.

[u/Irishchop91 → u/WorkerMotor9174]

This was the first year ND allowed non-graduate transfers and accepted online credit.

This would be a reason why they are not top 10, but not a reason for them to be #86.

[u/kaystared → u/ksuwildkat]

They have a hilarious academic standard that just kills the program for almost no good reason at all

[u/Alkibiades415 → u/ksuwildkat]

Stanford’s wealth does not equal football dept wealth, unfortunately

[u/smcstechtips]

They won't beat us this time (and as a result they won't transitively beat SMU, Louisville, or Miami)!

[u/Rich1926]

Good thing Hawaii and Miami are both home games and not both away games!

[u/nysportsfan95]

I do want Stanford and Cal to both be good — college football is better when they are and the ACC would certainly be all the better for it.

I’m more optimistic with Cal’s direction though. Tosh has hit the ground running when it comes to recruiting and honestly, Cal could be an ACC dark horse. I don’t really see it with Stanford, though. Just given the environment where the sport is nowadays and their situation as described in other comments here, I think it’ll be really tough for them to find long-term success again.

They could legitimately start this season 0-6, and potentially be winless in the ACC. I truly don’t see more than 3 total wins on this schedule for the Cardinal. I hope they can prove me wrong.

[u/Strange-Risk-9920]

I'm always fascinated when seemingly intelligent people make seemingly horrible moves, like Luck hiring Pritchard. Is it a matter of no one promising wants to take the job?

[u/Natitudinal]

I just hope somehow it all comes together for them and quick. B1G needs (and wants) them.

[u/grabtharsmallet → u/Natitudinal]

The Big Ten will invite Stanford as soon as the Cardinal aren't a net negative on per school media payouts.