Is this Gonzaga’s toughest nonconference schedule?

The Gonzaga men's basketball team could face up to six teams ranked inside the top 30 of Bart Torvik’s 2025 projections

Back in June, Gonzaga men’s basketball head coach Mark Few noted there would be changes in regard to nonconference scheduling after the West Coast Conference added two games to its league slate to accommodate new affiliates Oregon State and Washington State.

High-profile nonleague games in November and December have been the backbone of some of the Bulldogs’ deep NCAA Tournament runs over the years. After the WCC moved from an 18-game to a 16-game schedule for the 2018-19 season, Few and company earned a No. 1 seed in three consecutive postseasons (would have likely been four straight if the 2020 tournament was played) in part because of high-quality wins over marquee opponents in nonconference play. Part of Gonzaga’s approach to scheduling is “any place, anytime,” but loading up early on neutral site games early in the season is also done to outweigh the games against the WCC basement dwellers in January and February.

The coaching staff had fewer dates on the calendar to work with this season with the move back to an 18-game schedule in league play. Gonzaga had multi-year agreements in place with UConn, Kentucky and San Diego State, as well as the Battle 4 Atlantis (three games), though the school’s arrangement with Washington fell through, leaving another open date on the schedule to fill. The game against the Huskies was set to take place in Spokane, presumably at The Kennel.

“Gonzaga plays a very high-level nonconference schedule,” former Gonzaga All-American Dan Dickau said after the Washington game was cancelled. “Now you kinda got to figure out … where else are there opportunities that make sense for you and another program that’s gonna have a high NET ranking or, would also provide maybe national TV exposure.”

Slowly but surely, the 2024-25 nonleague state began to take shape as the offseason progressed. The multi-year deal with UCLA set up two games against the Bruins for the next two seasons, starting with a matchup at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, that’s set for Dec. 28. The West Coast schools have delivered some thrilling finishes as they’ve gotten to known each other over the past few years in the NCAA Tournament and made-for-TV matchups in nonleague play.

After landing a home-and-home series with Arizona State, Gonzaga is set to host a talented Sun Devils squad at The Kennel on Nov. 10. Bobby Hurley’s program, ranked No. 68 in Bart Torvik’s 2025 projections, features five-star recruit Jayden Quaintance. The return game will be in Tempe, Arizona, the following season.

The Battle 4 Atlantis bracket arguably shaped out in benefit of Gonzaga when it was revealed in August. After taking on West Virginia (No. 83 on Torvik) in the opening game, the Bulldogs will see either No. 29 Indiana or No. 62 Louisville the following day and potentially No. 10 Arizona in the championship game. That means there’s potential for the Zags to play two Quad 1 games in back-to-back days over the Thanksgiving holiday — talk about a feast week.

Now, with less than seven weeks to go until a juicy matchup against Baylor in the Spokane Arena to tip off the 2024-25 college hoops season, it appears the latest wave of realignment, transfer portal madness and even the historic amount of head coaching changes this offseason couldn’t stop Few and his coaching staff from putting together arguably Gonzaga’s toughest nonconference schedule to date.

A look at the Zags’ 2024-25 nonconference schedule, by the numbers:

4: OPPONENTS RANKED IN TORVIK’S PRESEASON TOP 30

The Bulldogs could see up to six teams ranked inside the top 30 of Bart Torvik’s 2025 projections this season depending on how the Battle 4 Atlantis shakes out. As it stands, Gonzaga will face four teams that figure to compete for a single-digit seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Three of those games are at neutral venues; games at the Spokane Arena are considered “home” for the Bulldogs on KenPom.com.

Last season, the Zags also faced four teams that finished in the top 30 of Torvik, including the Maui Invitational matchup against Purdue. In 2022-23, however, there were seven Torvik Top 30 teams on the nonconference schedule, the most Gonzaga has played in a single nonleague stretch. The only high-profile nonleague game that wasn’t on a neutral court that season was against Kentucky in the Spokane Arena.

5: 2024 NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS

Headlined by the reigning back-to-back champion Huskies, Gonzaga faces five NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago, though only one other team on the schedule — San Diego State — managed to get by the first round.

Long Beach State, which got in as a 15-seed in Dan Monson’s final year at the helm, is the only postseason team that’ll pay a visit to The Kennel in nonleague play. The Beach does not look the same as it did, as first year head coach Chris Acker brought in 10 newcomers for the 2024-25 season.

The Wildcats, now under Mark Pope, don’t feature a single player from last season’s game against the Zags at Rupp Arena. UConn lost four of its five starters to the NBA; the Bears have more young talent as well. Building rosters from scratch is what a lot of Division-I coaches do during the offseason nowadays.

When comparing the postseason resumes of previous nonconference opponents, the 2022-23 nonleague slate stands out again — Gonzaga played a whopping seven teams that were in the NCAA Tournament the season prior. Last season, five opponents who made the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

3: TOP 100 TORVIK TEAMS BEFORE THANKSGIVING

Coaches who build challenging nonconference schedules might take on a few high-profile games in the first two or three weeks of the season leading up to Thanksgiving. Usually, though, the first week is reserved for buy games and tune-ups against non-Division-I opponents. Check the slate of games currently lined up to tip off the 2024-25 college basketball season —   some interesting mid-major matchups, but nothing special.

Coaches like Few and Scott Drew don’t think the same way, however. They want to challenge their teams right out of the gate. At the same time, fans get to enjoy what will likely be a top 10 matchup on the first day of the season when the Zags and Bears tip off from the Spokane Arena.

Based on Baylor’s Torvik ranking (14th) this could be the fourth time in the past five seasons that Gonzaga plays a Quad 1 opponent within the first week of the regular season. 

CONCLUSION: WE’LL SEE

The Battle 4 Atlantis tournament will go a long way in determining where the 2024-25 nonleague schedule stacks up with the past few seasons. As it stands, the 2022-23 nonconference schedule has a strong case to be the toughest; Michigan State (25 on Torvik), Texas (6), Kentucky (26), Purdue (7), Xavier (20), Baylor (17) and Alabama (2) all made the NCAA Tournament that season. Kent State out of the Mid-American Conference also earned an automatic bid.