Gonzaga men's basketball 2024-25 schedule update: Zags face loaded nonconference slate

Battle 4 Atlantis, UConn, Kentucky highlight daunting preseason for Bulldogs

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Scheduling in college basketball is quite the balancing act performed by coaches and athletic directors across the country.

Strength of schedule has become a significant part of teams' resumes, given the algorithms of the NET rankings and various other advanced metric sites. Too many sub-par nonconference opponents can drag a team down in the rankings if it’s not offset with a strong conference schedule. Conversely, a team risks its win-loss record taking a hit if it loads up on top 25 opponents throughout November and December and leaves little room for tune-up games in between.

Mark Few and the Gonzaga men’s basketball program walk this scheduling tightrope every offseason. Safe to say their strategy over the past few years has worked out well — the Bulldogs have been to nine straight Sweet 16s and a pair of Final Fours while slugging it out with some of the most notable bluebloods in the country during the regular season. Even if it means traveling across the country.

During the 2023-24 regular season, the Zags faced five nonconference teams that went on to qualify for the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Three of those high-profile games were played either on a neutral court or in enemy territory. Based on how next season’s out-of-conference schedule has shaped up, the Bulldogs could find themselves battling on the road even more than the year prior.

Here is a look at Gonzaga’s confirmed opponents for the 2024-25 season.

BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS: NOV. 27-29, BAHAMAS

(Arizona, Indiana, Louisville, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Davidson, Providence, Gonzaga)

Likely no multi-team event can top the 2023 Maui Invitational in terms of the overall talent and notoriety that gathered in Hawaii last November, but the 2024 Battle 4 Atlantis presents an intriguing challenge for the Bulldogs in its own right. 

Arizona, fresh off its second Sweet 16 in the last three seasons, will likely be in the mix as a potential top-10 team. The Wildcats 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). Caleb Love and KJ Lewis are expected to return to Tuscan, Arizona, after testing the NBA Draft waters.

Of course, it would be ignorant not to mention the potential matchup between Few and his former assistant Tommy Lloyd, if the bracket works out in that favor.

Indiana is likely an NCAA Tournament team after it revamped its roster through the portal. Mike Woodson brought in Ballo, Myles Rice from Washington State and Kanaan Carlyle from Stanford. That trio headlines the No. 6 transfer portal class in the country, according to EvanMiya.com.

A potential matchup against Creighton would’ve been interesting given that Ryan Nembhard started his career there, though the Bluejays opted to withdraw from the Atlantis event in favor of the NIL event in Las Vegas. Providence is another quality opponent who could make a push for the Big Dance next spring.

With potentially three top-25 teams in the field, the Battle 4 Atlantis will be regarded as one of the premier MTEs next season.

UCLA BRUINS: DATE TBA, INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA

The West Coast rivalry between the Zags and Bruins has been renewed for at least the next two seasons, according to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, as the two programs are reportedly set to face off at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, sometime next 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.

UCLA is ranked No. 19 in ESPN’s way-to-early top 25 rankings for the 2024-25 season. Bracketology expert Joe Lunardi has the Bruins getting into the 2025 NCAA Tournament as a No. 5 seed.

KENTUCKY WILDCATS: DEC. 7, SEATTLE

Part three of the Bulldogs-Wildcats nonconference series will shift to Seattle, where Few is set to go head-to-head with a former West Coast Conference rival coach in Mark Pope, who left BYU to be named John Calipari’s successor at Kentucky earlier this spring.

Pope has already differed from the previous regime through his activity in the transfer portal, an area of team building that Caliper didn’t tend to favor as much. The Wildcats have the No. 4 transfer portal class in the country according to EvanMiya.com, headlined by 6-foot-11 Wake Forest transfer Andrew Carr (No. 36 ranked transfer). Carr has started over 100 games in his college career and is coming off averaging 13.5 points and 6.8 rebounds with the Demon Deacons this past season.

Oklahoma transfer and 6-foot-5 guard Otega Oweh (No. 42), West Virginia transfer Kerr Kriisa (No. 64) and San Diego State transfer Lamont Butler (No. 67) join the ranks as well. 

Kentucky wasn’t in ESPN’s top 25 for next season, though Lunardi had it qualifying for the tournament as an 8-seed.

UCONN HUSKIES: DEC. 14, NEW YORK

Just a week after facing Kentucky, the Bulldogs head cross country to battle the reigning two-time national champions at Madison Square Garden.

Dan Hurley and the Huskies are on a quest for the three-peat after bringing in Liam McNeely, a top-10 recruit in the 2024 class, and Saint Mary’s transfer Aidan Mahaney, a two-time All-WCC guard who can provide some offensive firepower to the starting lineup. If Alex Karaban returns from testing the draft, UConn will firmly be in the top 10 once again next season.

The Huskies are ranked No. 7 in ESPN’s way-too-early power rankings, while Lunardi has them as a No. 1 seed in the tournament once again.

SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS: DATE TBA, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

The only true nonconference road game that’s known at this point is a date with the Aztecs at the Viejas Arena in San Diego, California, where the Bulldogs look to avenge a rare home loss against San Diego State this past season.

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.

Time will tell if the new additions pan out for Dutcher. The Aztecs aren’t ranked in ESPN’s way-too-early rankings, nor do they appear in Lunardi’s forecast for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.