SETTING THE SCENE
On the road for its third neutral site battle of the season, Stanford will face former Pac-12 foe Colorado at the Hall of Fame Series Phoenix at PHX Arena on Dec. 20 at 5 p.m. on ESPNU.
THE STARTING FIVE
• Stanford is out to a 9-2 start, including wins over Minnesota and Saint Louis at a neutral site, San Jose State on the road and six home wins. Stanford is outscoring its foes by 10.3 points per game this year.
• Stanford won the Acrisure Invitational in Palm Desert with wins over the Gophers and Billikens, with Benny Gealer's buzzer beater on Nov. 28 sending the Cardinal home victorious.
• Ebuka Okorie ranks 18th in the country in scoring at 21.0 points per game and third among freshmen. He joins only Duke's Cameron Boozer and BYU's AJ Dybantsa as freshmen nationally north of 21 points per night. Chisom Okpara is averaging 15.4 points per night, which ranks 17th in the ACC.
• The Cardinal posted a successful first season under the leadership of Kyle Smith, winning the program’s most games since 2014-15 (21) and matching a program record for wins on its home court (17). 2025-26 marks the program’s second year in the ACC, after Stanford finished seventh in its maiden season. The Cardinal was postseason bound for the first time since 2018, appearing in the NIT.
• Maxime Raynaud graduated from Stanford in 2025 after posting one of the top seasons in program history, and the All-American was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in June. Raynaud, Spencer Jones and Ziaire Williams have each scored 20 or more in the NBA since Dec. 1, including career highs for Jones (28) and Raynaud (25). Raynaud is posting 14.4 points per game over his last seven games with Sacramento.
DOWNED THE MAVERICKS
Posting its second consecutive 9-2 start under Kyle Smith, Stanford rolled to a 76-60 victory over UT Arlington at Maples Pavilion. Chisom Okpara and Benny Gealer scored 17 points apiece, the latter a season-high mark. AJ Rohosy was in double figures for the second consecutive game, finishing with 13 points, while Jeremy Dent-Smith had 10 and Ryan Agarwal nine. The first matchup in program history, the Cardinal held the Mavericks (7-4) to just 60 points, a season-low for the Stanford defense.
THE NET RESULT
Stanford enters the matchup with the Buffaloes at No. 98 in the NET rankings (Dec. 18). The matchup is currently a quadrant one contest, as Colorado slots in at No. 48. 16 of Stanford’s 31 regular season games are currently slated to be in quadrant one or two, including 12 in Q1. Stanford has one quadrant one victory so far, against Saint Louis in the Acrisure Invitational championship game.
vs. Quad 1: 1-0 (Wins over Saint Louis)
vs. Quad 2: 0-0
vs. Quad 3: 3-1 (Wins over Minnesota, UT Arlington, Montana State)
vs. Quad 4: 5-1 (Wins over Portland State, Portland, Montana, San Jose State, Louisiana)