Gonzaga’s run of nonconference games at Climate Pledge Arena isn’t going anywhere.
The Bulldogs are set to return to Seattle for another neutral-site game in 2026-27, this time against Oregon on Jan. 30, according to Rocco Miller of Bracketeer.org. Then, in 2027-28, Gonzaga is scheduled to come back again for a matchup with UCLA, also according to Miller, though no date has been set yet.
That keeps a familiar pattern rolling. Nonconference games at Climate Pledge Arena have shown up on Gonzaga’s schedule in four of the last five seasons, and the Zags have already seen just about every kind of result there.
They opened the building with three straight losses - 91-82 to Alabama in 2021, 76-63 to Connecticut in 2023 and 90-89 to Kentucky in overtime in 2024 - before finally flipping the script last season with an 82-72 win over UCLA. A month later, they were back in the same arena and handled Seattle U 71-50 in West Coast Conference play.
The Oregon game fits into a packed nonleague slate. With that matchup on the books, Gonzaga is locked into at least 10 nonconference games against high-major opponents and could get to 11 if it reaches the championship game at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. The Bulldogs also have at least two nonleague games mixed into their Pac-12 schedule, including a Feb. 20 meeting with Duke at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
The Oregon trip also brings back a rematch from last season’s 91-82 Gonzaga win at Portland’s Moda Center, the first game in a neutral-neutral series with Dana Altman’s team. Of the 18 players who logged minutes in that game, only two remain on their rosters now: Gonzaga’s Braden Huff and Oregon’s Sean Stewart.
Altman’s new group includes freshman Tajh Ariza, the son of former NBA star Trevor Ariza, who was rated as a four-star prospect and ranked among the top 40 recruits in the country.
Oregon also lost its top two scorers, Nate Bittle and Jackson Shelstad, but brought in a deep transfer class that includes San Francisco’s Tyrone Riley IV, Alabama’s Taylor Bol Bowen, Boise State’s Andrew Meadow, San Diego State’s Pharaoh Compton, Arizona’s Dwayne Aristode, Kentucky’s Jasper Johnson and Boston College’s Fred Payne.
The UCLA matchup adds another chapter to a rivalry Gonzaga and the Bruins renewed this offseason. The new neutral-neutral series begins this fall when the Zags travel to play UCLA on Dec. 5 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
Gonzaga and Oregon have met only a handful of times during Mark Few’s tenure. Before last season’s Portland game, Few had faced his alma mater just twice since taking over in 1999. The Bulldogs lost 70-64 to the Ducks in the Far West Classic in 1999 and beat them 73-72 in overtime in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals in 2019.
Last season’s meeting also featured a big night from Gonzaga point guard Braeden Smith, who scored a season-high 21 points on 7 of 10 shooting. Huff finished with 20 points, Graham Ike added 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Oregon’s Bittle, a former GU recruit, led everyone with 28 points and nine rebounds.
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Gonzagas Future Schedules Show Just How Big Both Programs Are Thinking
Gonzaga is giving its fans a look far down the road, and the picture says plenty about how both of its basketball programs are approaching the future. Mark Fews men have already mapped out a 2026-27 non-conference slate that includes marquee matchups with Oregon and UCLA, while Lisa Fortiers women also unveiled a packed early-season schedule that features multiple games and tournament stops. Some of the dates and sites still have to be sorted out, but the ambition is already easy to see.
The calendar also gives the Kennel its annual rhythm. Kraziness in the Kennel is set for Oct. 3, 2026, with FanFest expected about a week later, keeping both programs in the spotlight before the season even starts. For Gonzaga, the big takeaway is not just who is on the schedule, but how intentionally the Bulldogs are planning years ahead, with both teams leaning into the kind of non-conference path that matches the programs national profile. [Read more 🡒]
Gonzaga Just Added Another Huge Test For Its New Look Team
Gonzagas new-look roster already has a rugged non-conference slate ahead of it, and another marquee test is now on the calendar. The Bulldogs will keep stacking high-major matchups with games against Purdue, UCLA, Michigan State and Duke, giving Mark Fews team little room to ease into the season while the lineup continues to take shape.
One more challenge comes in Seattle, where Gonzaga has often drawn a strong regional crowd at Climate Pledge Arena. The Ducks are part of a neutral-site series that began last season, adding another familiar but still intriguing measuring stick for a team that is trying to figure out its rotation while facing one of the nations toughest early schedules. [Read more 🡒]