STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford football learned its updated 2026 ACC opponents on Tuesday afternoon, as announced by the league office. Stanford also announced updates to future dates for the Bill Walsh Legacy Game with San Jose State and an additional nonconference game against Elon.
The ACC announced in September its decision to shift to a nine-game conference schedule across the league, joining the other conferences in the Power 4 (Big 12, Big Ten, SEC) in a nine-game model. As part of the new scheduling model, ACC teams will also be required to play an additional Power 4 game, meaning each team must have at least 10 Power 4 games on its schedule.
12 of the 17 ACC teams, including Stanford, will have nine conference games beginning in 2026. The remaining five teams must have two Power 4 non-conference games.
The 2026 conference schedule remains largely unchanged for the Cardinal, as eight of its nine conference opponents had already been determined upon Stanford’s arrival in the ACC. Stanford will play four home conference games in 2026: Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State, and SMU. There are now five road games in conference play next year: California, Duke, Louisville, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest.
Stanford’s trip to Blacksburg to take on the Hokies will be its first visit to Lane Stadium. When Stanford joined the ACC prior to the 2024 season, it was expected to make its first trip to Virginia Tech in 2027. The Hokies and Cardinal have met twice, with one ACC meeting coming in 2024 on The Farm. Their first meeting came in the 2011 Orange Bowl, where Stanford won 40-12.
Stanford and San Jose State have changed a few of their upcoming dates for the Bill Walsh Legacy Game. Notably, the 2026 game that was scheduled for late November in San Jose has been moved to Sept. 20, 2031. This means the two Bay Area rivals will not meet until Nov. 25, 2028, at Stanford Stadium.
The Cardinal will host the Spartans in additional games in 2034 and 2036, while heading to San Jose in 2035.
Also announced on Tuesday was the addition of an Oct. 17, 2026, battle against Elon at Stanford Stadium. The Cardinal and Phoenix will meet for the first time in program history, with Elon being no stranger to ACC opponents. Elon has opened each of the last two seasons against current ACC-champion Duke.
With a new nine-game conference slate and nonconference games against Elon and Hawai’i (Aug. 29), that leaves one remaining game on the schedule for Stanford to fill against a Power 4 opponent.
The ACC will reveal its full 2026 schedule, with dates for all games, in late January.
