They migrate annually now from east to west, about half of the members going one year, the others the next in a pilgrimage of murky purpose beyond the obvious goals of winning games and making money.
That Bay Area programs are part of the ever more absurdly-named Atlantic Coast Conference, an east coast fixture for going on three-quarters of a century, is yet another aspect of the misshapen imperatives of contemporary college sports.
Certainly the ACC’s primary motivation in adding Cal and Stanford
wasn’t adding universities of exceptional academic merit, although it could have been.
The men’s programs from those schools were not added for their basketball prowess, either. They’ve mostly been modern basketball laggards, though so far this season, perhaps due to a heightened commitment to the sport, not to mention carefully curated nonconference schedules, the Golden Bears and Cardinal were a combined 22-3 through Christmas.
Mostly unnoticed, Stanford did reasonably well last year too, winning 60 percent of its games (21-14) under first-year coach Kyle Smith. With Georgia Tech and fellow newbie SMU the Cardinal also got an NIT bid.
As orchestrated by the ACC, last season 9 teams headed to the West Coast to play first one, then the other of the former Pac-10 (or -12) Conference members in consecutive games. Another 7 hosted the new pair.
Dallas-based SMU, neither eastern nor western, first hosted Cal and Stanford, then late in the season visited each. For purposes of this accounting the Mustangs qualify as an eastern school. (Dallas is closer to the Atlantic rather than the Pacific ocean.)
Only three members of the eastern contingent (Notre Dame, SMU, and Wake) swept their two games on the newcomers’ home courts in 2025. Five were swept. UNC, SMU, Syracuse and Virginia Tech won one outing and lost one.
Notre Dame is an exception this season, loading up on western opponents by playing at Stanford then Cal in early January and later hosting Stanford. The Irish have an eight-day breather before returning from their Bay Area doubleheader to host Clemson. And NC State hosts only Stanford after losing to Cal twice, home and away, and Stanford once under Kevin Keatts in 2025.
More notable than schedule construction is what happens to eastern teams after returning from the realm of the San Andreas Fault.
Last season ACC travelers suffered adverse after-effects of coastal competition, much like the difficulties lamented during the multiple-game, quick turnaround of the baseball playoffs. In a small but revealing sample size, more than three-quarters of the ACC’s eastern squads (7 of 9) lost upon returning to more familiar turf in 2025.
Interesting to see if the same disadvantage surfaces again in ’26.
This go-round, a few schedules look especially challenging on the back end of western trips. In the span of less than a week Clemson goes west, then caps its travels at Virginia Tech. Georgia Tech endures a similar week ending with a visit to Wake. Louisville goes west, then ends the first week of its ACC season with a visit from Duke.
The Blue Devils get a luxurious week off following their West Coast trip before hosting Wake.
| MESSAGE IN ACC’S WESTERN UNION | ||
|---|---|---|
| School | 2026 Date, Opponent | 2025 Opponent, Result |
| BC | 2/11 Stanford | @Stanford L |
| BC | 2/11 Stanford | @Stanford L |
| 2/14 Cal | @Cal L | |
| RETURN | L Clem | |
| Clem | 2/4 @ Stanford | Stanford W |
| 2/7 @ Cal | Cal W | |
| RETURN 2/10@VT | ||
| Duke | 1/14 @ Cal | Cal W |
| 1/17 @ Stanford | Stanford W | |
| RETURN 1/24 WF | ||
| FSU | 1/28 Cal | @Cal L |
| 1/31 Stanford | @Stanford L | |
| RETURN L VT | ||
| GT | 2/4 @Cal | Stanford W |
| 2/7 @ Stanford | Cal W (OT) | |
| RETURN 2/11 @WF | ||
| UL | 12/30 @ Cal | Cal W |
| 1/2 @ Stanford | Stanford W | |
| RETURN 1/6 D | ||
| UM | 1/28 Stanford | @ Stanford L |
| 1/31 Cal | @ Cal L (OT) | |
| RETURN L V | ||
| NC | 1/14 @Stanford | Cal W |
| 1/17 @ Cal | Stanford L | |
| RETURN 1/21 ND | ||
| NS | 3/7 Stanford | Cal L |
| @Cal L | ||
| @ Stanford L | ||
| RETURN L UL | ||
| ND | 12/30 @Stanford | Stanford W |
| 1/2 @Cal | Cal W (4OT) | |
| RETURN 1/10 C | ||
| 3/4 Stanford | ||
| UP | 2/25 @ Stanford | Cal W |
| 2/28 @ Cal | Stanford W | |
| RETURN 3/4 FSU | ||
| SMU | 2/25 @ Cal | Cal W |
| 2/28 @ Stanford | Stanford W | |
| RETURN 3/4 UM | @Cal W | |
| @Stanford | ||
| RETURN SU W | ||
| SU | 2/11 Cal | @ Stanford L |
| @ Cal W | ||
| RETURN L D | ||
| V | 1/7 Cal | @Cal L |
| 1/10 Stanford | @ Stanford L | |
| RETURN L SMU | ||
| VT | 1/7 Stanford | @ Stanford L |
| 1/10 Cal | @ Cal W | |
| RETURN W NS | ||
| WF | 2/14 Stanford | Stanford W |
| 3/7 Cal | @Stanford W | |
| @ Cal W | ||
| RETURN L FSU | ||
