Gonzaga’s Mark Few confirms Bulldogs will play Baylor in 2024-25 nonconference game

Bulldogs head coach confirmed a matchup with the Bears on a podcast with Jon Rothstein

Dec 2, 2022; Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Nolan Hickman (11) drives on Baylor Bears forward Jalen Bridges (11) in the first half at Sanford Pentagon. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images / Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

A top 25 matchup in men’s college basketball between Gonzaga and Baylor will happen during the 2024-25 college basketball season, Bulldogs head coach Mark Few confirmed on a podcast with Jon Rothstein.

“We're just finishing up something with Baylor,” Few said in regard to the Zags' scheduling efforts. “We haven't quite decided what it's going to be, but we're working on that.”

The Zags and Bears had been working on scheduling a matchup for a neutral site court during the opening week of the season, CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander reported last month. Where and when the nonconference game would take place remains unknown to this point.

Few did confirm the other marquee games on the 2024-25 schedule, including home against Arizona State (Nov. 10), at San Diego State (Nov. 18), Kentucky in Seattle (Dec. 7), UConn at Madison Square Garden (Dec. 14), UCLA at the Intuit Dome (Dec. 28) and the three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament (Nov. 27-29).

The Bulldogs’ home schedule also includes bouts against Long Beach State (Nov. 20) and Nicholls State (Dec. 18).

A matchup between the Zags and Bears could still go down during the opening week of the season (Nov. 4-11). Gonzaga’s earliest known game to this point is the presumptive home opener against the Sun Devils on Nov. 10; Baylor will take on Arkansas in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 9.

If the season opener is in fact against Baylor, which is expected to be ranked in the AP Top 25 preseason poll, it will mark the third time in the Few era that the Zags open the regular season against an opponent ranked in the AP Top 25 poll (2003 vs. No. 17 Saint Joseph’s, 2020 vs. No. 6 Kansas). 

Gonzaga and Baylor last met in a closed-door scrimmage in Phoenix, Arizona, in October 2023. Nolan Hickman and Anton Watson led the way with 17 points apiece while Nunn had 16 for the Bears, who also featured eventual first-round pick Ja’Kobe Walter. The two schools also met in a nonconference showdown in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, during the 2022-23 season, in which Baylor came out on top, 64-63, and of course the 2021 national championship game.

Few also mentioned on the podcast that current assistant coach Brian Michaelson would be his successor as the next head coach of the men’s basketball program whenever Few decides to retire. Few had mentioned this on an episode of Gonzaga Nation back in May.