Stanford, Cal and SMU Intros
[Fan Guide Pt 4] Get to know the newcomers
Learn the location, mascot, football (and other sports) vibes, fan tropes and rivals for the ACC newcomers.
Stanford
Location: Stanford, CA
Mascot: Cardinal (the color?). Their mascot is a tree which is quirky and their marching band is famously goofy. While you likely associate Stanford with Silicon Valley and tech, it’s called The Farm (sorry, NC State) for its agrarian origins.
Football Vibes: There was a period from 2010-2015 when Stanford looked like it might become a mainstay program, even (actually, mostly) after Jim Harbaugh left, they were able to maintain nationally competitive teams. Now…their conference collapsed and they have to travel cross country for conference games, which gives an idea of how desirable Stanford football is. In the jockeying and horse trading of conference realignment, Stanford was effectively put out to pasture.
Other Sports: Stanford is amazingly good at non-revenue sports. For example, they’ve won 136 national titles (including 2 last year) — the most of any university. They sent 32 athletes to the Paris Olympics and won 35 medals at the Paris Olympics, both highs for ACC schools. In basketball, they bungled their coaching hire last year, missing out on an alum who’s now turning around rival Cal. They had sustained basketball success in the late ‘90s and early 2000s but haven’t made the NCAA tournament since 2014.
Student / Fan Trope: Bay Area vibes, meaning tech plus eccentric and eclectic interests. But relative to Cal, leans more toward the I-dropped-out-to-pursue-my-startup
Notable People: John Elway, Andrew Luck, Christian McCafferey, Richard Sherman, Jim Harbaugh, Troy Taylor (current coach)
Rivalries: Cal (🌶️🌶️🌶️): The rivalry has a name (Big Game), a trophy (the Axe), and an all-time legendary game (The Play).
Cal
Location: Berkeley, CA
Mascot: Golden Bears. The script logo is an absolute classic.
Football Vibes: Quite bad. During their coach’s 7-year tenure, they’ve averaged a 5-7 record, so they should fit in nicely with the ACC’s deep group of mediocre teams.
Other Sports: Cal is also good at non-revenue sports, sending 13 Olympians to Paris and bringing home 12 medals, both ranking 2nd in the ACC. At basketball, they’re absolutely dreadful — 67-153 record (0.305) over the past 7 seasons. But Mark Madsen is turning the program around.
Student / Fan Trope: Bay Area vibes, but relative to Stanford, leans more to the counter-cultural dimension.
Notable People: Aaron Rodgers, DeSean Jackson, Marshawn Lynch, Jared Goff, Justin Wilcox (current coach)
Rivalries: Stanford (🌶️🌶️🌶️): The rivalry has a name (Big Game), a trophy (the Axe), and an all-time legendary game (The Play). UCLA (🌶️🌶️): The teams have met 94 times but the new conference memberships mean 2024 will be the first year since 1933 the teams won’t play. But the series picks back up in 2026.
SMU
Location: Dallas, TX
Mascot: Mustangs. Clean but uninspiring jerseys, logo and colorway
Football Vibes: At the current moment, they feel like a sleeping giant in the booster-fueled NIL era. Flush with cash and aspirations, SMU is primed to ascend — and maybe restore their once-promising trajectory. Had they not received the “death penalty” for recruiting violations1, they could’ve been on the path of a Texas or an Oklahoma. A fascinating addition to the ACC.
Other Sports: In true Texas form, it seems like they care about football and not much else. In basketball, they hired Andy Enfield (the original Dusty May).
Student / Fan Trope: Texans, for sure, but not necessarily the belt-buckle bravado type. There’s some spoiled, using-daddy’s-oil-money, keeping up with the (Jerry) Joneses energy permeating through SMU.
Notable People: Eric Dickerson, the “naughty nine,” Rhett Lashlee (current coach)
Rivalries: They claim far too many rivals, including North Texas2, Rice, TCU3, and Houston. We’ll see if the new ACC map breeds any new conference rivals for SMU
Read the Rest of the Fan Guide
Part 1: A (brief and recent) history of ACC football
Part 2: Cliff notes on every ACC team
Part 3: ACC rivalries, ranked
[You are here] Part 4: Intros to Stanford, Cal and SMU
Ironically (?) for paying players, which is now the main arms race of college sports
The Safeway Bowl (North Texas vs SMU) seems like a lame name, but the origin story lends more credence than the mid-tier grocer
Battle for the Iron Skillet, an undeniably badass name, would rank highly on the rivalry spicy scale on name alone