Gonzaga releases full nonconference schedule featuring games against national title contenders, brand-name programs

Oct. 2—Gonzaga’s schedule release on Wednesday didn’t reveal anything new in terms of opponents, dates or destinations, but viewing the Zags’ 13 nonconference opponents on one page may have given fans and college basketball purveyors a better sense of what Mark Few’s team is up against this season.

The official schedule, sent out via social media platforms on Wednesday morning, features a number of high-major, brand-name college basketball programs and possibly two or three that are expected to be in contention for a national title next spring.

According to the schedule released this week, Gonzaga’s season will unofficially start on Oct. 30 with a home exhibition against Warner Pacific. Matt Gregg, the father of GU senior forward Ben Gregg, is director of athletics of the NAIA school in Portland.

A report last week from Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman indicated the Zags would meet USC for an Oct. 26 or 27 charity exhibition at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, California, but it’s possible details haven’t been finalized as the game didn’t appear on the GU schedule released Wednesday.

Gonzaga begins the regular season in earnest with a highly anticipated nonconference matchup with visiting Baylor on Nov. 4 at the Arena — the start of a three-year series with Scott Drew and the Bears, who brought in key transfers Norchad Omier (Miami) and Jeremy Roach (Duke) this offseason.

Another Big 12 team will come to Spokane seven days later with Arizona State visiting for a Nov. 10 game at McCarthey Athletic Center. Bobby Hurley’s Sun Devils won 14 games last season, but they enter the year with the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history, including five-star center Jayden Quaintance.

The Zags will stay at home for a Nov. 15 matchup against UMass Lowell before traveling for their first true road test of the season, a Nov. 18 game against future Pac-12 opponent San Diego State at Viejas Arena. The Aztecs return a handful of players who were part of the team’s 84-74 victory over the Zags in Spokane last season and bring in multiple transfers, including Wayne McKinney III, a former West Coast Conference rival of GU’s at San Diego.

It’ll be a short turnaround for GU, which returns home on Nov. 20 to face Long Beach State, which will enter its first season since 2006-07 without former Zags coach Dan Monson.

Gonzaga will have another seven-day layoff before the opening game of the Battle 4 Atlantis, on Nov. 27 against West Virginia. On the second day of the Bahamas-based tournament, the Zags will either face former GU center Oumar Ballo and Indiana or Louisville. Gonzaga could face one of four teams on the third and final day of the tournament, including former Zags assistant Tommy Lloyd and Arizona.

After a seven-day break, Gonzaga will return to the court Dec. 7 to face Kentucky at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena in the third installation of a six-game series with the Wildcats. Kentucky, which hired former BYU coach Mark Pope to replace John Calipari, reloaded its roster in the offseason, signing transfers Kerr Kriisa (Arizona), Lamont Butler (San Diego State), Jaxson Robinson (BYU) and Koby Brea (Dayton).

There’s another break in GU’s schedule before the Bulldogs travel to New York City for another marquee nonconference matchup, on Dec. 14 against back-to-back national champion UConn at Madison Square Garden. Dan Hurley’s Huskies return just one starter, forward Alex Karaban, from last year’s 37-win team, but UConn is projected to open the year inside the top five after adding coveted Saint Mary’s transfer Aidan Mahaney, Michigan’s Tarris Reed Jr. and high school standout Liam McNeely.

The Zags return to Spokane for two games against midmajor opponents, Dec. 18 against Nicholls State and Dec. 21 against Bucknell, before a brief holiday break and one final nonconference game on Dec. 28 against UCLA at the Intuit Dome.

The matchup between the Zags and the Bruins will signify the first college basketball game at the Los Angeles Clippers’ new arena, and mark the fifth game between Few’s program and Mick Cronin’s since Jalen Suggs’ buzzer-beater in the 2021 Final Four. UCLA’s new roster is transfer-heavy and includes former GU guard Dominick Harris, who spent the 2023-24 season at Loyola Marymount.

Gonzaga will stay in the greater Los Angeles area ahead of its Dec. 30 WCC opener against Pepperdine .