Stanford is entering its first season in the ACC. The Cardinal didn’t get much of a welcome gift from their new league.
On3’s Andy Staples was recently joined by Roddy Jones of the ACC Network to break down Stanford’s first season in the ACC. They both believe Stanford has a chance to be improved in 2024, but they’re not sure the Cardinal’s record will reflect that thanks to a tough slate.
“They’re new and have apparently angered the people in the conference office, because they gave them everybody that could be difficult,” Staples said. “Stanford, which is coming off of a pretty tough year, is at Syracuse and at Clemson to open ACC play. They get Virginia Tech. They’re at Notre Dame, which of course Notre Dame is on their schedule every year.
“They’re at NC State and then Louisville comes to them. The only thing they didn’t get is a trip to Tallahassee, pretty much, out of this thing.”
With that in mind, Staples and Jones discussed the ceiling and floor for Stanford this season.
Breaking down ceiling for Stanford football
Jones and Staples have differing opinions on the ceiling for Stanford in 2024. Staples believes the Cardinal can be a little bit better than Jones does.
“I think Stanford is going to be judged less on what they do from a win-loss perspective and more the strides that they make,” Jones said. “The film will tell the story of Stanford’s season. I have their ceiling probably 4-8.”
Staples believes Troy Taylor‘s club can be slightly better in Year 1 in the ACC.
“I thought 5-7 maybe would be charitable in case things bounce the right way. But the other thing is they play TCU in the nonconference. Obviously Notre Dame is in the nonconference. … TCU, that’s not who you want to see right out of the game,” Staples said. “I love Elic Ayomanor. If you saw him in the Colorado game last year blowing up, he and Tiger Bachmeier are established receivers. Ashton Daniels seems to have that job locked down at quarterback.
“I think they might be able to surprise somebody. But they were the least experienced team in the FBS last year and they’re not much more experienced this year. It will be probably tough sledding, and the schedule is just brutal. So 5-7 for me on the ceiling.”
Discussing the floor
As for the floor, Jones didn’t give an exact win-loss record, but he does see a scenario where the Cardinal really struggle thanks to their schedule.
“I feel like Stanford was kind of used to solve a lot of [ACC scheduling] problems,” Jones explained. “‘We’ve got an issue with this team playing this team. Let’s just stick Stanford in there.’ I feel bad a little bit for Troy Taylor.
“This should be an improved team. They’ve got some talent, particularly on the offensive side of the football. They were so young last year. I thought they made some strides. They played a bunch of close games. They could’ve beat USC last year. And their reward is to join a new league and get sent to every hard team other than Florida State.”
Staples did provide an exact record as far as the worst case scenario for the Cardinal.
“I’ve got 3-9 on the floor, because I do think they’ve got enough talent to win some games,” he said. “But it’s not going to be easy.”
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