The Stanford Cardinal football program represents Stanford University in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level and is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The program was previously in the Pac-12 Conference. The team is known as the Cardinal, adopted prior to the 1982 season. Stanford was known as the "Cardinal" for its first two decades of athletic competition, then more commonly as the "Cardinals" until 1930. The name was changed to the "Indians" from 1930 to January 1972, and back to the "Cardinals" from 1972 through 1981. A student vote in December 1975 to change the nickname to "Robber Barons" was not approved by administrators.
The 2017 Washington Huskies football team represented the University of Washington during the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Chris Petersen led the team in his fourth season as head coach. Washington competed as a member of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference and played their home games on campus at Husky Stadium in Seattle. They finished the season 10–3, 7–2 in Pac-12 play to win a share of the North Division title with Stanford. Due to their head-to-head loss to Stanford, they did not represent the North Division in the Pac-12 Championship Game. They were invited to the Fiesta Bowl where they lost to Penn State.
The Pac-12 Football Championship Game was an annual college football game held by the Pac-12 Conference to determine the season's conference champion. The game from the 2011–2021 seasons had the champion of the North Division against the champion of the South Division. The inaugural game was held during the 2011 season. In 2022 and 2023, the two teams with the highest conference winning percentage faced off in the championship game.
The 2011 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS college football season. The Cardinal were led by former offensive coordinator and new head coach David Shaw, as Jim Harbaugh departed following the 2010 season in order to become the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. They played their home games at Stanford Stadium and are members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season with 11–2 in overall record, 8–1 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie with Oregon for first place in the North Division. Due to their head-to-head loss to Oregon, they did not represent the division in the inaugural Pac-12 Football Championship Game. They were invited the Fiesta Bowl, their second consecutive BCS game, where they were defeated by Oklahoma State 38–41 in overtime.
The 2012 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal were led by second-year head coach David Shaw. They played their home games at Stanford Stadium and were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference.
The 2013–14 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team represented Stanford University during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinal, led by twenty-eighth year head coach Tara VanDerveer, played their home games at the Maples Pavilion and were a members of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season with a 33–4 overall, 17–1 to win their twenty-fourth regular season Pac-12 title. They lost in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball tournament to USC. They were invited to the 2014 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, where they defeated South Dakota in the first round, Florida State in the second round, Penn State in the sweet sixteen, North Carolina in the elite eight to make their twelfth Final Four appearance. In the final four the Cardinal were defeated by the 2014 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament champion, Connecticut.
The 2014–15 Stanford Cardinal men's basketball team represented Stanford University during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cardinal, led by seventh year head coach Johnny Dawkins, played their home games at Maples Pavilion and were members of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 24–13, 9–9 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament where they lost to Utah. They were invited to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated UC Davis, Rhode Island, Vanderbilt, Old Dominion, and Miami (FL) to become NIT Champions. It was Stanford's second NIT Championship in four years.
The 2014–15 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team represented Stanford University during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinal, led by twenty-ninth year head coach Tara VanDerveer, played their home games at the Maples Pavilion and were a members of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 26–10, 13–5 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie for third place. They won the Pac-12 women's tournament to earn an automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament, where they defeated Cal State Northridge in the first round, Oklahoma in the second round before losing to Notre Dame in the sweet sixteen.
The 2015 Pac-12 Football Championship Game was played on Saturday, December 5, 2015 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California to determine the champion of the Pac-12 Conference in football for the 2015 season. It was the fifth championship game in Pac-12 Conference history. The game featured the South Division Co-champion USC Trojans against the North Division champion Stanford Cardinal. Stanford defeated USC 41–22 to win their third conference championship game.
The 2015 Oregon Ducks football team represented the University of Oregon in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by third-year head coach Mark Helfrich and played their home games at Autzen Stadium for the 49th straight year. They were a member of the Pac-12 Conference in the North Division.
The 2015–16 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team represented Stanford University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinal, led by thirtieth year head coach Tara VanDerveer, played their home games at the Maples Pavilion and were a members of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 27–8, 14–4 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of Pac-12 women's tournament to Washington. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA women's tournament where they defeated San Francisco and South Dakota State in the first and second rounds, Notre Dame in the sweet sixteen before losing to Pac-12 member Washington in the elite eight.
The 2016 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal were led by sixth-year head coach David Shaw. They played their home games at Stanford Stadium and were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 10–3, 6–3 in Pac-12 play to finish in third place in the North Division. They were invited to the Sun Bowl where they defeated North Carolina.
The 2016–17 Stanford Cardinal men's basketball team represented Stanford University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cardinal were led by first-year head coach Jerod Haase. They played their home games at Maples Pavilion as members of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 14–17, 6–12 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie for ninth place. They lost in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament to Arizona State.
The 2017–18 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team represented Stanford University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinal, led by thirty-second year head coach Tara VanDerveer, played their home games at the Maples Pavilion and were members of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 24–11, 14–3 in Pac-12 play to finish in second place. They advanced to the championship game of the Pac-12 women's tournament where they lost to Oregon. They received an at-large the NCAA women's tournament where they defeated Gonzaga and Florida Gulf Coast in the first and second rounds before losing to Louisville in the sweet sixteen.
The 2018 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal were led by eighth-year head coach David Shaw. They played their home games at Stanford Stadium and were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference.
The 2019 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal were led by ninth-year head coach David Shaw. They played their home games at Stanford Stadium and were members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 4–8, 3–6 in Pac-12 play, to finish last place in the North Division. This was Stanford's worst record since 2007 and the first time that they did not earn bowl eligibility since 2008.
The 2019 California Golden Bears football team represented the University of California, Berkeley in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They competed as members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference. In their third year under head coach Justin Wilcox, the Bears improved to an 8–5 record for only the second time since 2009, finishing 2nd in the Pac-12 North.
The 2020 Oregon Ducks football team represented the University of Oregon during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by third-year head coach Mario Cristobal. The Ducks played their home games at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, and competed as members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference.
The 2020 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal were led by tenth-year head coach David Shaw. They played their home games at Stanford Stadium as members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference.
