From November to December (and sometimes later), the Gonzaga Bulldogs lean heavily on a difficult nonconference schedule to prepare for the rigors that come in March.
Since 2018 — when the West Coast Conference switched from an 18-game to a 16-game league schedule to grant more non-league opportunities for its members — the Zags have gone toe-to-toe with some of the nation’s best. Twenty-three AP Top 25 teams in that span to be exact, just under four per season on average, including multiple matchups against the top six winningest programs in the sport: Kentucky (twice), Kansas, North Carolina (twice), Duke (twice), UCLA (twice) and Syracuse.
The trend of high-profile games will continue in the 2024-25 season, though recent waves of conference expansion across college athletics could take away some of those opportunities in the future. The Big 12 added two games to its 18-game league schedule after bringing in four Pac-12 schools. The ACC and Big Ten have grown to 18 teams apiece, while the SEC will sit at 16 members with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma.
The WCC added to its roster as well, as the league is set to have 11 members next season with Washington State and Oregon State officially onboard as affiliate members for two years. In 2025, Grand Canyon and Seattle U will make it 13 teams once they complete the move out of the Western Athletic Conference. While it’s unclear how the conference will adjust its calendar beyond next season, the WCC moved back to an 18-game schedule to accommodate the Cougars and Beavers, both of whom will face the Bulldogs twice in their first season in the league.
“It certainly changed our non-league stuff,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said of WSU and Oregon State joining the WCC. “I mean we got a lot less non-league games, which are very important to us. Now we got to play 18 league games, so that’s impacted our non-league scheduling to a certain extent and … it certainly throws some northwest teams in there so our travel won’t be as bad.”
Along with two extra league games, conference realignment impacted Gonzaga’s non-league schedule late last week when Washington, which was slated to visit Spokane this upcoming season, called off the final two years of the series with its in-state rival. The Huskies brought in former Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle for their first season in the Big Ten, which has a 20-game schedule for its 18 members. The transition is expected to be a competitive one — the Big Ten has ranked among the top three leagues in the country over the past five seasons (KenPom) and just sent six teams to the 2024 NCAA Tournament (conversely the Pac-12 finished sixth in KenPom and sent four teams to the postseason in 2023-24).
With the Huskies game off the calendar, the Bulldogs can schedule up to six more games on their schedule in accordance with NCAA scheduling rules, which states a team can play up to 28 regular season games in addition to three nonconference tournament games (like the Battle 4 Atlantis for example). Based on how the non-league schedule has taken shape thus far, Gonzaga doesn’t have a game officially scheduled for the first three full weeks of November (the season starts on Nov. 4) and the final two weeks of December leading up to WCC play.
To date, here’s a look Gonzaga’s 2024-25 nonconference slate.
BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS: NOV. 27-29, BAHAMAS
(Arizona, Indiana, Louisville, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Davidson, Providence, Gonzaga)
The 2024 Battle 4 Atlantis won’t top the 2023 Maui Invitational in terms of overall talent and prestige, though half of the eight-team field set to compete at Atlantis Paradise Island over Thanksgiving week was featured in the latest version of CBS Sports’ Top 25 and 1 rankings (Gonzaga, Arizona, Indiana and Providence).
The Wildcats (ranked No. 16 in CBS Sports’ rankings) should be back in the mix after they returned All-American guard Caleb Love, as well as junior Jaden Bradley, sophomore KJ Lewis and 7-foot-2 center Motiejus Krivas. Tommy Lloyd lost some big names to the transfer portal, including Kylan Boswell and Oumar Ballo, but they brought in two proven scorers at the mid-major level in Anthony Dell’Orso (Campbell) and Trey Townsend (Oakland).
As for Ballo’s new team, Indiana, the Hoosiers look like an NCAA Tournament-caliber team on paper after coach Mike Woodson brought in Myles Rice (Washington State), Kanaan Carlyle (Stanford) and Luke Goode (Illinois) to mix with three of the top four scorers from last season.
Providence, which joined the field late after Creighton opted to withdraw, welcomes back All-Big East forward Bryce Hopkins. Bensley Joseph (Miami), Jabri Abdur-Rahim (Georgia) and Christ Essandoko (Saint Joseph’s) could all be starters on Kim English’s first NCAA Tournament team.
Louisville is expected to be relevant once again under Pat Kelsey, who revamped the entire squad through the transfer portal for his first season as the team’s coach.
The 12-game, three-day tournament will be televised on ESPN networks.
KENTUCKY WILDCATS: DEC. 7, CLIMATE PLEDGE ARENA (SEATTLE)
The third installment of the Gonzaga-Kentucky nonconference series will be held at Climate Pledge Arena for the 2024 Battle in Seattle event in December.
Unlike the previous two meetings — both of which were Gonzaga victories — the Wildcats will be led by Mark Pope, the former coach at BYU who took over in Lexington, Kentucky, after John Calipari’s seismic decision to leave for Arkansas. Already under Pope, who hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game in his nine-year coaching career, the roster has been revamped with some solid additions via the transfer portal, albeit without the 5-star recruits fans of the program had been accustomed to seeing from the Calipari regime.
Headlined by Andrew Carr (Wake Forest), Otega Oweh (Oklahoma) and Kerr Kriisa (West Virginia), Kentucky has the No. 6 ranked transfer portal class in the country according to EvanMiaya.com. Pope also brought Jaxson Robinson over from Provo, Utah, landed sharpshooter Koby Brea from Dayton and got a guard with Final Four experience in Lamont Butler from San Diego State.
UCONN HUSKIES: DEC. 14, MADISON SQUARE GARDEN (NEW YORK)
A week after facing Kentucky, the Zags will travel cross country to battle the reigning back-to-back national champion Huskies at Madison Square Garden in New York.
For a moment it appeared Dan Hurley could be the next great college coach to take their talents to the NBA, though after he spurned the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this summer, Hurley’s return marks a major win for college basketball and solidifies the Huskies as legit contenders to win their third title in a row and seventh as a program since 1999.
UConn’s quest for history will be without starters Donovan Clingan, Stephon Castle and Tristen Newton, all of whom are pursuing the NBA. Hurley brought in top-10 recruit Liam McNeely and two-time All-WCC guard Aidan Mahaney from Saint Mary’s. Perhaps the biggest re-acquisition was Alex Karaban, who announced he’s returning to Storrs, Connecticut, after testing the draft waters this spring.
UCLA BRUINS: TBA INTUIT DOME (INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA)
The West Coast rivalry between the Bulldogs and Bruins has been renewed for the next two seasons, as the two will reportedly face off at the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers sometime next season, followed by a matchup in Seattle during the 2025-26 season.
Gonzaga, which has won the previous four head-to-head meetings since 2021, will see a much different UCLA squad than it did at the 2023 Maui Invitational. Mick Cronin reeled in a top-20 transfer portal class headlined by two-time Pac-12 All-Defense selection Kobe Johnson from USC, former four-star recruit Eric Daily Jr. from Oklahoma State, former Kentucky commit Skye Clark from Louisville and 6-foot-9 forward Tyler Bilodeau from Oregon State. Four-star recruit Trent Perry, the No. 27 player in the 2024 class according to ESPN, committed to the Bruins after recommitting from USC, which he initially chose over Gonzaga.
The Zags can expect to see at least one very familiar face — Dominick Harris, a former five-star recruit at Gonzaga who transferred to Loyola Marymount before last season, committed to UCLA as a grad transfer this offseason. The 6-foot-3 guard who grew up less than 100 miles away from his new campus led the West Coast Conference in 3-point percentage (44.8%) while averaging a team-high 14.3 points this past season.
SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS: DATE TBA, VIEJAS ARENA (SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA)
The only true road game in the nonconference portion of the season is a date with the Aztecs at the Viejas Arena in San Diego, California, where the Zags hope to avenge last season’s head-to-head loss at the Kennel.
Brian Dutcher’s program coming off a Sweet 16 appearance has gone through some changes. Butler and Micah Parrish left via the portal, while star big man Jaedon LeDee is ready to test the next level. The Aztecs sought to replace that outgoing talent by bringing in Nick Boyd, a 6-foot-3 guard who started for Florida Atlantic’s Final Four team two seasons ago, as well as Wayne McKinney III, a double-digit scorer with San Diego this past season.