Gonzaga, meet the new Pac-12: What’s in store for the Bulldogs in 2026?

Gonzaga's inclusion in the reimagined Pac-12 conference boosts the league's viability and stature in regard to men's basketball

Photos by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Two seasons from now, the college basketball power dynamics on the West Coast are set to shift drastically once the new look Pac-12 conference officially takes shape.

Gonzaga — which announced it’s joining the Pac-12 in all sports starting July 2026 — and the school's dominant men’s basketball program will headline one of the premier mid-major basketball leagues in the country that also features five other teams that played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. That group includes the 2023 national runner-up (San Diego State) and the reigning Mountain West Conference regular-season champion (Utah State). The three other postseason teams (Boise State, Colorado State, Washington State) all finished in the top 50 of KenPom’s end-of-season rankings.

Part of the decision to join the Pac-12 was influenced by the league’s commitment to building a prominent basketball conference without completely comprising its existing geographical footprint. Of course that won’t stop the Pac-12 from having discussions with Memphis and other football schools out East, though for the most part, Gonzaga and the league’s other seven members won’t have to travel great distances to play some competitive basketball in the months leading up to March.

For now, as the Pac-12 strives to lock in a media rights deal, here’s a look at who the Zags are joining to solidify the league’s best-in-the-west expansion strategy.

(*= NCAA Tournament appearance that year)

BOISE STATE BRONCOS

Mar 8, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; Boise State Broncos head coach Leon Rice looks on during the first half against the San Diego State Aztecs at Viejas Arena. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images / Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images

HC: Leon Rice (15th season)  Home: ExtraMile Arena (Boise, Idaho)  Last five KenPom finishes: 83-61-39*-37*-44*

The Broncos basketball program has been on the uptick lately under former Gonzaga assistant coach Leon Rice, who’s entering his 15th year at the helm and is coming off a third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Rice and company have won a combined 73 games over the past three seasons, though they’re still looking for that first elusive win in March. 

Boise State claimed two Mountain West regular season titles and one conference tournament title during the school’s 13 seasons as a member of the conference. Prior to the Mountain West, the Broncos were part of the Western Athletic Conference for 10 years (2001-11) after a brief five-year stint with the Big West (1996-2001). Now in the Pac-12, the school has completed the climb to the top of the college sports hierarchy on the West Coast.

Few and Rice have made it clear in the past that they wouldn’t purposely schedule a game between the Zags and Broncos in nonconference play, though it appears they’ll have to deal with the reality as the two will likely see each other up to two or three times in a single season in Pac-12 regular season/conference tournament action.

COLORADO STATE RAMS

Mar 21, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; Colorado State Rams head coach Niko Medved watches the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

HC: Niko Medved (7th season)  Home: Moby Arena (Fort Collins, Colorado)  Last five KenPom finishes: 99-76-46*-110-36*

Colorado State doesn’t have a deep and rich basketball history, though the past decade under head coaches Larry Eustachy and now Niko Medved have the Rams trending in the right direction as they prepare to exit the Mountain West after 25-plus years of affiliation. Under Medved last season, Colorado State won 25 games — the fourth time this century that’s happened — and won its first NCAA Tournament game since 2013 under Eustachy.

The Rams finished in the top two of the Mountain West standings twice over the past quarter century, having never claimed the league’s regular season title. They did clinch the conference tournament title once back in 2003, in which Colorado State earned a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost to 7-seed Duke in the first round. In total, the Rams have made the Big Dance 12 times and have a 5-13 overall record to show for it.

Gonzaga and Colorado State have squared off five times since 1950, according to the Rams’ website. The Zags own the all-time series 3-2 after a 93-61 victory in the last meeting on Nov. 11, 2013, in Spokane. 

FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS 

Mar 25, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Sacramento Kings assistant coach Corliss Williamson (left), head coach George Karl (center) and assistant coach Vance Walberg on the bench against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center. The Kings defeated the Suns 108-99. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

HC: Vance Walberg (1st season)  Home: Save Mart Center (Fresno, California)  Last five KenPom finishes: 157-191-73-143-237

A new conference meant a change in leadership for Fresno State, as former NBA assistant coach Vance Walberg is set to take the reins from Justin Hutson. After finishing below .500 in four of the past five seasons under Hutson, the Bulldogs brought in someone with NBA experience to hopefully steer the program back on course as it prepares for the jump to the Pac-12.

Perhaps the slight change of scenery will also do Fresno State some good. The school’s 12-year run in the Mountain West has yielded just one NCAA Tournament appearance and almost as many losing seasons (five) as winning seasons (six). 

Gonzaga and Fresno State haven’t seen each other on the hardwood in over 20 years, though Few and Walberg were WCC competitors for a brief moment when Walberg was the head coach of Pepperdine for two seasons (2006-08).

SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS

Mar 28, 2024; Boston, MA, USA; San Diego State Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher reacts against the Connecticut Huskies in the semifinals of the East Regional of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images / Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

HC: Brian Dutcher (8th season)  Home: Viejas Arena (San Diego, California)  Last five KenPom finishes: 6*-30*-25*-14*-22*

Outside of Gonzaga, there hasn’t been a more consistent program out West than San Diego State, which is just two seasons removed from a Final Four appearance and has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in all but one season under head coach Brian Dutcher (excluding 2020). 

Building off the culture from the Steve Fisher era (2000-2017), Dutcher has kept the Aztecs razor-sharp on the defensive end of the floor during his seven years at the helm. In that span, SDSU has ranked in the top 30 of the country in adjusted defensive efficiency in all but one year, and in the last five years alone, the school hasn’t dropped outside the top 25 in that category. 

The Bulldogs became familiar with the Aztecs’ stifling defensive schemes last season when the two squared off in The Kennel as part of a multiyear home-and-home series. Gonzaga will look to return the favor from that double-digit defeat when it heads down to the Viejas Arena for the return game on Nov. 18.

UTAH STATE AGGIES

Nov 10, 2021; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Youngstown State Penguins head coach Jerrod Calhoun calls a play for his team against the Penn State Nittany Lions during the first half at the Bryce Jordan Center. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images / Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

HC: Jerrod Calhoun (1st season)  Home: Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (Logan, Utah)  Last five KenPom finishes: 41-46*-60-28*-51*

Pulling off three NCAA Tournament appearances under three different head coaches in a four-year span is quite the feat, especially for a non-power conference program. Despite a high turnover rate in the coach’s chair, the Aggies basketball program has routinely been one of the most competitive teams in the Mountain West for the last half-decade. Now under the guidance of Jerrod Calhoun, the former Youngstown State head coach will look to continue that trend into Utah State’s transition to the Pac-12.

History suggests that Calhoun could be set up for success from day one as head coach. Four of the last five Utah State head coaches made it to the NCAA Tournament within their first two years on the job. Danny Sprinkle’s one and only season in Logan, Utah, resulted in the school’s second-ever Mountain West regular season title. 

Should Calhoun fall in the same line of success, the Aggies will prove to be quite the test for the Zags on a year-to-year basis in Pac-12 play. Gonzaga and Utah State have played each other just twice since 1970 (series split 1-1).

WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS

Dec 13, 2022; Lubbock, Texas, USA; Eastern Washington Eagles head coach David Riley and assistant coach Pedro Garcia Rosado in the second half during the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at United Supermarkets Arena. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images / Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images

HC: David Riley (1st season)  Home: Beasley Coliseum (Pullman, Washington)  Last five KenPom finishes: 127-78-44-67-42*

Any sort of stability is welcomed at the moment in Pullman, Washington, considering how Washington State had the rug pulled out from underneath it by the 10 former Pac-12 schools. Not to mention the Cougars’ most successful men’s basketball coach in the last 15 years left for one of those said departing schools, just as WSU had clinched its first NCAA Tournament since the Tony Bennett era, while the school’s athletic director left for in-state rival Washington.

As such, new head coach David Riley inherited a clean slate to begin the next chapter of Cougars basketball. With most of the 2023-24 team gone either via the portal, graduation or NBA, Riley brought over a handful of talent with him from Eastern Washington, as he snagged four Eagles in the portal this offseason to help build a culture in his first season at the Palouse. Before it can reignite the Pac-12 officially, Washington State will have a short two-year stint in the WCC as an affiliate member.

The Zags and Cougars haven’t crossed paths on the court since 2015, despite the two campuses being separated by roughly 75 miles apart from each other. Now, in a bit of irony, the schools find themselves as natural rivals given their aligned conference affiliation and proximity to one another.

OREGON STATE BEAVERS

February 22, 2024; Berkeley, California, USA; Oregon State Beavers head coach Wayne Tinkle during the first half against the California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

HC: Wayne Tinkle (11th season)  Home: Gil Coliseum (Corvallis, Oregon)  Last five KenPom finishes: 87-43*-233-214-155

The Wayne Tinkle era in Corvallis, Oregon, has reached both ends of the spectrum: the highs of reaching the Elite Eight for the first time in 40 years, followed by the lows of a 3-28 campaign. The Beavers hovered around the middle of the Pac-12 standings for the most part under Tinkle, though since the program’s breakout in 2021, Oregon State is a combined 27-68 in his last three years at the helm. 

Perhaps a new-look roster in a different conference will help jumpstart Tinkle and company before they move from the WCC back to the Pac-12 as a full-time member in 2026. 

Gonzaga hasn’t beaten Oregon State in any of the previous 12 head-to-head matchups, though that could change this season when the two schools square off twice in conference play.