Previewing Eight Notable Opponents on Gonzaga’s 2025-26 Nonconference Schedule
The Gonzaga Bulldogs’ last season in the WCC will be a final preview for the program facing elevated competition as it prepares to move to the Pac-12 in 2026-27.
But this season’s nonconference schedule isn’t a one-off for the Zags; Mark Few and his staff have never shied away from tough challenges – constantly scheduling one of the country’s most difficult slates outside of their league. With the continuous expectations of going deep into March, Gonzaga opts to be battle-tested early, not just for conference play but also when the program reaches the tournament.
This season, the Bulldogs have nonconference games scheduled with a mix of blue bloods, Power Five opponents, and tough tournaments. We will dive into eight intriguing matchups on Gonzaga’s plate this year that will seemingly prepare them for March. They will hit the ground running with the aim to not just win the WCC one final time, but get back to the Sweet 16 and beyond after missing it last season for the first time since 2014.
New-Look Opponents During The First Week
Immediately, Gonzaga kicks the season off with solid matchups against Oklahoma, Creighton, and Arizona State. The Zags will face the Sooners at Spokane Arena on November 8, the Bluejays at McCarthey Athletic Center on November 11, and the Sun Devils in Tempe on November 14.
Oklahoma is coming off a 20-14 season where it went 6-12 in the SEC. The Sooners won a tight first matchup between these programs in the 2007-08 season, but have lost the three games since – each by a sizable margin – including most recently in 2020-21. Losing its primary scorer in Jeremiah Fears to the NBA Draft, six players graduating, and four players transferring, they’ve had work to do this offseason. Oklahoma brought in four players from the portal, with the focus being on scoring and shot-making. Three of them – Nijel Pack, Tae Davis, and Xzavyier Brown – are expected to be the engines offensively for a new-look Sooners squad.
The Zags have lost six of the 11 all-time matchups against the Bluejays but have won the last three meetings. Like Gonzaga, Creighton is coming off a loss in the Round of 32. And like the Sooners, they also lost their best player, as Ryan Kalkbrenner was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets during the summer. The two other Bluejays who scored in double digits last year were in their final year of eligibility. To fill these holes in the roster, Creighton has added an assortment of scoring options who are coming off breakout seasons. But with the lesser competition that these new additions faced, there is reasonable question about how they will translate to playing winning basketball in the Big East.
The matchup with ASU is the second game of a home-and-home series that began last season in Spokane. This meeting will double as a homecoming for first-year Zag Adam Miller, who was a Sun Devil for two seasons. Along with Miller, Arizona State has undergone considerable roster turnover since the last time these two teams faced off, as they finished with a 13-20 record in 2024-25.
The biggest factors will be transfer guards Maurice Odum and Adante Holiman. Zags fans should be familiar with Odum, who portals in from Pepperdine and carries three years of experience in the WCC after beginning his collegiate career with two seasons at Pacific. He and Holiman can both handle the ball and are good three-point shooters. But there is still concern on both the offensive and defensive ends for Bobby Hurley’s squad as they look to gain momentum in the Big 12.
Players Era Festival During Thanksgiving Week
This season, Gonzaga will participate in the Players Era Festival that debuted last season in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is an event that began with four men’s teams in 2024, but has expanded to 18 men’s teams and four women’s teams in 2025. Each men’s team will play games on Monday, November 24 and Tuesday, November 25 to decide the championship games on Wed, November 26. There will also be a third-place game and consolation matchups that will be set after Tuesday’s action.
Oregon defeated Alabama 83-81 in the final last year, and they’ll return to this tournament along with schools like St John’s, Houston, Auburn, and Maryland. Gonzaga is slated to face the Crimson Tide that Monday and then the Terrapins that Tuesday. Both of these teams reached the Sweet 16 during March Madness, with Maryland losing to the eventual national champion Florida Gators and Alabama reaching the Elite 8 and falling to Duke.
Gonzaga and Alabama split two high-scoring affairs in back-to-back seasons from 2021-23, the only meetings between the programs all-time. For the Tide, All-American guard Mark Sears transitions to the NBA as he is part of 75 percent of Alabama’s roster that is no longer there. There will be nine new players in crimson this upcoming season, comprising a team full of size, depth, and shooting that seems to be unfazed by the heavy turnover personnel-wise.
The Terrapins finished second in the Big Ten at 27-9 last season, but also have a lot of moving parts after losing their head coach, Kevin Willard, to Villanova. Buzz Williams has taken over from Texas A&M as he looks to keep the train moving in Maryland after a pleasantly surprising year in 2024-25. Headlined by the “Crab Five” last season consisting of Derik Queen, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Julian Reese, Rodney Rice, and Selton Miguel -- who all averaged at least 12 points a game -- Maryland will be another team on the Zags’ schedule that shall feature a drastically different look on the floor. Rice and Gillespie transferred while the freshman Queen was drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans. Reese and Miguel signed to the Lakers and Jazz, respectively, after exhausting their college eligibility.
Four players followed Williams from the Aggies, with Pharrel Payne highlighting the crew as an offensive-minded big man. But they lack in size as Williams loaded up on guards and wings on the recruiting trail and in the portal. There is a lot of talent brought in that should still provide balance on both ends, but there is unknown about how this roster will fare in the Big Ten.
Matchup No. 4 of a Six-Year Set with Kentucky
The next nonconference game is the fourth chapter of a six-year series between Gonzaga and Kentucky on December 5. The Zags won the first two games while the Wildcats answered back with a one-point overtime win in Seattle last season. This year’s game will take place in Nashville, another technical neutral site, even though two of the series’ games have taken place in Washington. Few and then-Kentucky head coach John Calipari are good friends and sparked the first-ever meetings between the programs in 2022 before Calipari took over at Arkansas ahead of last season. First-year Wildcats head coach Mark Pope handled the turmoil well, making it to the Sweet 16 in 2024-25. Now having his first full offseason at the helm, Pope has assembled an extremely talented roster that has received attention to contend for the national championship.
The Wildcats added point guard Jaland Lowe from Pitt while returning Otega Oweh, who went through the draft process, to make up a backcourt full of firepower. Arizona State transfer Jayden Quaintance is coming off an ACL tear, but has sky-high potential as a double-double machine and rim protector when he does take the floor at some point this season. Kam Williams is a 6-8 transfer from Tulane who is the definition of a ‘three and D’ player, as the Wildcats seem to have not missed a beat in Calipari’s departure.
Tune-Ups with West Coast Foes
UCLA is next up on the Bulldogs’ nonconference schedule on December 13 in Seattle. The Bruins finished with a 23-11 record in the 2024-25 campaign, good for fifth in the Big Ten, as they were defeated in the Round of 32 by Tennessee. Although they lost eight players this offseason, UCLA retained three of its top four scorers. They did lose two big men, including 7-3 Aday Mara, but brought in 6-11 Xavier Booker — who can seemingly do it all down low — but didn’t get much opportunity in two years as a Spartan. New guard Donovan Dent averaged 20 points and six assists last season with New Mexico on great efficiency, completing a roster that is shaping up for another good season on the northwest side of Los Angeles.
Finally, the Zags will face off against Oregon in Portland on December 21. Head coach Dana Altman is bringing back key pieces this season after losing in the Round of 32 in 2024-25. 6-0 guard Jackson Shelstad has consistently gotten better through two seasons as a Duck, primarily as a shooter. Nate Bittle looked to be headed to the NBA, but withdrew from the draft process, allowing Altman to keep a skilled seven-footer in his starting lineup. Oregon’s other pieces will be the key to what type of run the Ducks make in March, but they are seemingly missing a point guard presence as well as proven commodities in their rotation.
The biggest difference between this year and last year’s Zags is the defensive backbone they can now rely on. With the addition of length and versatility on defense in players such as Jalen Warley and Tyon Grant-Foster, along with the return of Emmanuel Innocenti, Gonzaga is much more equipped for the physicality and skill needed to match up with the competition they’ll face in nonconference this season. Throwing themselves into the fire immediately is a routine practice for the Bulldogs, and they are set to face some of their hottest temperatures yet while wearing their most heat-resistant gear.
