Troy Taylor emphasizes the importance of maintaining rivalry with Cal in ACC

A lot of traveling will be involved in Stanford‘s future games. Whether the Cardinal are welcoming ACC opponents are flying out to the East Coast, those airline miles are going to be racked up. Head coach Troy Taylor will be experiencing it with the rest of the program, having a new bit of adversity to deal with.

Stanford will still have one West Coast opponent and quite an important one. The rivalry against Cal will live on in the ACC. In a conference realignment era where rivalry games are being taken away from the fans, this one has been able to survive the expulsion of the Pac-12.

Taylor spoke on the importance of maintaining the Stanford-Cal game, saying the two have a great relationship. After all, they are the two teams on an island in the ACC and will go through the same struggles. But when they face off against each other, a sense of tradition will come back.

“I think it’s really important,” Taylor said at ACC Media Days on preserving the Cal rivalry. “One of the things that makes college football great are the rivalries that have went on for a long time. I think it’s important with realignment, all these things that happen, the rivalries are something that’s really important. We got a great relationship and rivalry against Cal, right there in the Bay Area. We’re excited we were able to come over together.”

Dubbed the “Big Game”, the rivalry goes back to 1892 and was played annually until 1942. Due to World War II, there was a short hiatus but Cal and Stanford got back on the field in 1946, playing every year since. Plenty of famous moments have occurred throughout the long history, most notably “The band is on the field” from 1982.

Not having head coaching experience prior and making his debut in 2023, Taylor got to experience the rivalry for the first time. Unfortunately, the result did not go his way as Cal beat Stanford 27-15. A tough one to swallow at home for the Cardinal as they eventually finished the season 3-9.

Nov. 23 is when the two will match up this upcoming year. A trip to the Bay Area is on the cards, a likely relief for the two around the Thanksgiving holiday. Stanford will be at home the week before against Louisville, as will Cal with Syracuse heading out West.