Previewing Gonzaga's 2026-27 Notable Nonconference Opponents
Although neither their 2026-27 roster nor full schedule is finalized, the Gonzaga Bulldogs have several marquee nonconference matchups set in stone for this season. The Zags always try to play the toughest opponents possible outside their league, aiming to build a strong resume for NCAA Tournament seeding.
Last year, things didn’t go as planned, with Michigan and Alabama being viewed as the only quality teams Gonzaga played by March. But even with their horrid loss to the Wolverines, GU earned a 3-seed with a 30-3 record and a 16-2 mark in WCC play. Also, fellow West Coast Conference teams Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara punched tickets to the dance, and the Bulldogs won three of their four matchups against those two.
Even with its transition to the revamped Pac-12, Gonzaga still doesn’t play in a conference on the level of the country’s power schools. So this season, the Zags have assembled one of the nation’s most daunting nonconference slates, including 10 power conference programs and four of last season’s NCAA Tournament participants.
Nov. 2 vs Purdue (T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV)
As part of the Hall of Fame Series season-opening doubleheader on TNT, the Bulldogs and Boilermakers will battle at T-Mobile Arena before Arizona and Purdue square off. Gonzaga is scheduled to visit this venue three times this season, also in the Player’s Era Festival and the Pac-12 tournament.
The Zags have never beaten Purdue, going 0-5 all time against the Boilermakers. Matt Painter has beaten Mark Few in three of those games, including twice by double digits during the 2023-24 campaign. But Painter and Purdue have lost staples this offseason, including guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer, and big man Trey Kauffman-Renn.
Traditionally, these two programs have played a similar style of basketball, running through a lead point guard and wanting to get the ball to their big men. That likely won’t change – just the faces, with increased playing time for returners Omer Meyer and Daniel Jacobsen. Uncertainty lingers in the Boilermakers’ frontcourt, as rebounding is a real concern with younger, less experienced players taking on expanded roles.
After losing several core pieces, Purdue has had to supplement its personnel via outside acquisitions and is expecting leaps from those it retained. Like Gonzaga, it is awaiting the approved eligibility of a Frenchman, 6-7 Enzo Shahrvin.
Also similar to the Zags, the Boilermakers have had postseason consistency, logging three consecutive Sweet 16 appearances. It will be a solid early test for both squads, each experiencing significant roster turnover for separate reasons.
Nov. 14 vs LSU (Spokane Numerica Veterans America in Spokane, WA)
Continuing a trend of facing an SEC opponent, GU will take on the Tigers for the first time, with some home-court advantage in Spokane. Ironically, the NCAA’s 5-in-5 regulations seem to have impacted these two teams the most.
LSU currently has only four players signed to financial aid agreements, with plans to fill out the rest of its roster via international recruits or the 5-in-5 route. Bulldogs offseason target, point guard Donovan Dent, heads to Baton Rouge for his fifth season, reuniting with former UCLA teammate Skyy Clark. LSU also has eligibility concerns with another backcourt player, RJ Luis Jr., the 2025 Big East Player of the Year who played in the G League last season.
As for overseas incomers, the Tigers are bringing in two players from France, one from Brazil, and another from Senegal. The latter, Salio Niang, was the 58th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, but never signed a contract and played professionally in Italy. Márcio Santos has professional experience in Brazil, France, and Germany, but has never played collegiately. After going undrafted in 2023, he logged games for the Atlanta Hawks during Summer League.
With more uncertainty than any other team in the country, it’s hard to predict what Will Wade’s squad will look like in mid-November, as it waits for eligibility clarity just like Gonzaga.
Players Era Festival (T-Mobile Arena)
Nov. 24 vs Kansas State
For the second straight season, the Zags will compete in the Player’s Era Tournament, hoping to finish the job this time around. Although GU had a solid showing by advancing to the final round, being drubbed by the eventual national champions, Michigan, left a sour taste in their mouths. This time, the Bulldogs will start the tournament against the Wildcats, who are undergoing a new era.
Kansas State fired Jerome Tang midway through last season and hired Casey Alexander from Belmont to replace him. Alexander kept only one player from last season’s team, sophomore guard Andrej Kostic, utilizing the transfer portal to finalize his roster.
Expectations for the Wildcats in Alexander’s first year aren’t lofty, but he has a career 303-180 record, six conference championships, and an NCAA tournament appearance with Lipscomb. He is also one of four coaches to win 20 or more games in 10 straight seasons, alongside Few, Kelvin Sampson of Houston, and Kansas’ Bill Self.
Nov. 26 vs Alabama/Baylor, Nov. 27 vs Michigan/Creighton/Miami/TCU
Depending on game results, the rest of the Zags’ week in Las Vegas could go several different directions. If they beat K-State, they will play the winner between Alabama and Baylor. That situation switches if GU falls to the Wildcats. Gonzaga played the Crimson Tide in the first round of last year’s PET, beating them by 10 to set the tone. Head coach Nate Oats lost star guard Labaron Philon Jr., who was the Philadelphia 76ers’ first-round draft pick, but he reloaded his squad with depth and size. Oats also retained his other two leading scorers, Aden Holloway and Amari Allen. His groups notoriously play fast and get up a lot of threes, and that should be no different this season.
As mentioned, Michigan was another team the Bulldogs faced last year in Las Vegas, but the national champions look a lot different than a season ago. Dusty May bolted to the NBA to be the Dallas Mavericks’ head coach, while three of the Wolverines’ bigs, Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., and Aday Mara, all went in the first round of this summer’s draft.
Mike Boynton Jr., who was on May’s staff for the last two seasons, succeeded him as head coach. Because of that partial continuity, point guard and Final Four Most Outstanding Player Elliot Cadeau stayed for his senior year. Sophomore guard Trey McKinney is expected to take a leap, while the Wolverines expect big production from five-star freshman Brandon McCoy and 7-2 Cincinnati transfer Moustapha Thiam.
If Creighton advances to the final, Gonzaga could play them twice in two weeks. And if GU matches up with Miami or TCU, it would be its first and second-ever meeting with the programs, respectively.
Dec. 5 vs UCLA (Honda Center in Anaheim, CA)
The Bulldogs and Bruins will battle for the seventh straight year, as two coaches with vastly different styles, Few and Mick Cronin, will square off again. The Zags have taken five of the last six games, including a 10-point victory in Seattle last season.
For the Bruins, junior Trent Perry will likely assume point guard duties after Dent’s departure. Cronin also brought back frontcourt players Eric Dailey and Xavier Booker, and landed dynamic Serbian forward Nikolas Kusturica, who was on Gonzaga’s radar.
It looks like an interesting matchup for GU, with the Bruins bringing promising talent but limited experience.
Dec. 12 vs Creighton (CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, NE)
In Gonzaga’s only true road game during its nonconference schedule, the Bulldogs will travel to Omaha to face Creighton, finishing a home-and-home series between the programs. They throttled the Bluejays last year in the McCarthey Athletic Center, 90-63, during Greg McDermott’s final season at the helm after 16 seasons.
Prepared for McDermott’s retirement, Creighton had a succession plan in place, with Alan Huss taking over. But it still lost vital pieces, including Josh Dix, Nik Graves, and Blake Harper. Huss retained Austin Swartz and Jasen Green, who each averaged north of 10 points last season. They join a group of five total returners for Creighton.
A variety of transfers rounds out Creighton’s roster, which hopes to rebound under Huss after its lowest win total since the 2014-15 campaign.
Dec. 19 vs Michigan State (Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, CA)
The last time Gonzaga and Michigan State squared off, it was on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln at North Island Naval Air Station in 2022. Storming back from a 13-point halftime deficit, the Bulldogs eked out a one-point victory against Tom Izzo and the Spartans.
Unlike many teams on this list and most in college basketball, the Spartans notably retained their explosive tandem of pass-first point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. and athletic forward Coen Carr, two of seven returning players. The former led the nation with 9.2 assists per game, many times lobbing alley-oops to the high-flying Carr.
Izzo also added 7-2 Anton Bonke from the transfer portal and four freshmen who could make immediate impacts for Michigan State. They have won at least one NCAA Tournament game for five consecutive years, including reaching the Sweet 16 last season.
Jan. 30 vs Oregon (Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA)
As one of two nonconference games occurring during the Pac-12 schedule, Gonzaga will play Oregon for the second straight year, with only two previous meetings between the Pacific Northwest programs. After the Zags beat the Ducks by nine points at the Moda Center last season, they’ll meet for a Battle in Seattle this time.
Following a disappointing 12-20 season and missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in nine years, head coach Dana Altman revamped his team. Oregon has only four returnees, bringing in eight transfers in a rare roster overhaul. Five-star Kentucky transfer Jasper Johnson replaces Jackson Shelstad, who transferred to Kentucky, as the Ducks’ lead guard. Tyrone Riley IV is a familiar face for Gonzaga, having spent the last two seasons at San Francisco in the WCC. Jerry Easter II and Fred Payne join those two in the backcourt as ball-handling scoring options for Oregon.
The bigs lack experience, and the Ducks will generally take time to gel, but they should be more buttoned up by the time the Bulldogs play them in the first month of 2027.
Feb. 20 vs Duke (Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI)
Last but certainly not least, Gonzaga will take on the biggest blue blood in the country in the stomping grounds of the Detroit Pistons. This matchup will also take place during Pac-12 play, as part of an agreement between Duke and Amazon, just a few weeks before Selection Sunday.
The Blue Devils don’t seem quite as star-studded as last season, losing NBA lottery pick Cameron Boozer and second-rounder Isaiah Evans. But they remain formidable under Jon Scheyer, retaining Dame Sarr, Caleb Foster, and Patrick Ngongba II, all possible future first-rounders. One of the best transfers this cycle, John Blackwell, transferred in from Wisconsin after averaging 19.1 points as a junior. And 7-0 freshman and McDonald’s All-American Cameron Williams has serious hype to start alongside Ngongba in the frontcourt.
Depending on how conference action shakes out for the Zags, and with this matchup’s proximity to the NCAA tournament, this should be a fantastic tune-up and final measuring stick before the NCAA tournament.
Before we know it, the regular season will kick off, and Gonzaga will finally close a drama-filled offseason. Also on the schedule, GU will face Arkansas in an exhibition match on Oct. 24, New Mexico State on Nov. 7, Incarnate Word on Nov. 10 or 11, Montana State on Nov. 17, Eastern Oregon on Dec. 2, and Cornell on Dec. 31. This nonconference schedule is possibly the most stacked the Bulldogs have tackled in a while, with the belief that it prepares them to get over the hump of two consecutive Round of 32 exits.
