Gonzaga men's basketball could play 2024 NCAA Tournament games at Spokane Arena

The Idaho Vandals are the official host school for the NCAA Tournament games in Spokane

Amid the excitement of Kraziness in the Kennel on Saturday, it was announced that the Gonzaga Bulldogs will host Pepperdine at the Spokane Arena on Thursday, January 4.

A matchup originally set to be held at the McCarthey Athletic Center, the Zags and Waves will instead square off at Spokane's 12,000-seat venue just down the road from campus in the CCF Classic, benefitting the Community Cancer Fund.

It will be the second straight season the Bulldogs will have a home regular season game in Spokane outside of the Kennel, as they hosted the Kentucky Wildcats last November in a top-25 matchup that saw Gonzaga win 88-72. And if the stars align for Mark Few's program, it won't be the last trip to the Spokane Arena during the 2023-24 season. 

The Spokane Arena will host first and second-round NCAA Tournament games in March, with the University of the Idaho serving as the host school. The Spokane Arena was supposed to host the NCAA Tournament back in 2020, though COVID-19 implications prevented that from happening. Now four years later, the Zags have another shot at having what would essentially be a home game in the postseason.

Per NCAA rules, "a team will not be permitted to play [an NCAA Tournament game] in any facility in which it has played more than three games during its season, not including exhibitions and conference postseason tournaments." The Jan. 4 matchup against Pepperdine is the only game currently slated to be played in the arena, and barring any more schedule changes, it will likely stay that way. The NCAA Selection Committee in charge of determining seeding for the tournament does not allow a host institution to play at the site the institution is hosting, which would apply to the Idaho Vandals in this scenario, not Gonzaga.

Further, the NCAA states that "teams will remain in or as close to their areas of natural interest as possible, as determined by mileage from campus to the venue." The only exception arises when two teams from the same natural region are in contention for the same bracket position, in which case the higher-seeded team would get first priority.

The possibility of the Zags playing a first or second-round game in front of 12,000 Bulldogs fans is already a possibility in the making. ESPN's 2024 NCAA Tournament Bracketology by Joe Lunardi forecasts Gonzaga earning the No. 3 seed in the South Region for a matchup against Iona in Spokane. If Lunardi's predictions hold true, then the Zags could face UCLA in a rematch from last season's Sweet 16 battle in the second round.

The potential for a unique opportunity to essentially "host" an NCAA Tournament game is on the table for Gonzaga. The Bulldogs are 12-6 all-time in the Spokane Arena but have only played four games there since 2010. 

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