Mark Few’s Gonzaga Bulldogs are back in the Pac-12, but this version of the league looks nothing like the one that used to dominate West Coast basketball.
The old guard is mostly gone. Only Washington State and Oregon State remain from the previous Pac-12 setup, and both spent the last two years as independents in football while serving as WCC affiliate members in every other sport. The rest of the league now leans on five former Mountain West programs and one school arriving from the Sun Belt, creating a nine-team basketball field for 2026-27.
That setup brings a balanced 16-game conference schedule, with every team seeing the others once at home and once on the road. For Gonzaga, the league slate includes a mix of familiar names, new arrivals, and a few matchups that already carry some weight.
The Jan. 16 date at home against Boise State stands out first. That game brings Leon Rice back to Spokane, and it figures to be one of the season’s most interesting emotional touchpoints.
Rice spent 10 years on Gonzaga’s staff before taking the Boise State job in 2010, and he and Few have stayed close. The Bulldogs and Broncos haven’t faced each other since Rice left, and in fact they haven’t played since very, very early in Few’s head coaching career.
This will be the first meeting between the programs in 27 years, though Boise State does not appear to be a major danger to Gonzaga this season, at least on paper.
Colorado State is a different sort of test. Gonzaga and the Rams have barely crossed paths, even though Colorado State has often been one of the stronger mid-major programs in the West.
Ali Farokhmanesh is entering his second full season as head coach, and he brings back four starters from a team that finished hot. The Bulldogs will host the Rams on Jan. 9 before closing the regular season in Fort Collins on March 6.
Fresno State remains the weakest basketball program among the former Mountain West additions, though Vance Walberg is trying to move the Bulldogs in a different direction early in his tenure. Gonzaga will see Fresno State twice in January, and neither meeting is projected to give the Zags much trouble in year one.
Oregon State has a little more intrigue. The Beavers beat Gonzaga in an emotional home game during their first year as a WCC affiliate, even though the Zags handled them in the other meetings.
With former Saint Mary’s assistant Justin Joyner now in charge, that series could begin to feel more like a true conference rivalry. Oregon State also kept star guard Josiah Lake and added a transfer group that includes Buffalo’s Daniel Freitag, BYU big man Xaivion Staton and San Francisco sharpshooter Legend Smiley, among others.
Gonzaga’s senior night will be against the Beavers on March 3.
San Diego State may be the team best positioned to grow into Gonzaga’s biggest Pac-12 challenge. No one is replacing Saint Mary’s as an instant rival, but the Aztecs could get there over time.
They are the only new Pac-12 member with a winning record against Gonzaga in the Mark Few era, sitting at 2-3 after splitting a recent home-and-home series. This year’s roster is almost brand new, with three international additions and just two returners, but Brian Dutcher’s track record gives them real credibility.
The teams meet in San Diego on Feb. 6.
Texas State brings a completely fresh opponent into the picture. The Bobcats are the only Pac-12 team Gonzaga has not faced during the Few era.
Coming over from the Sun Belt, they finished second last season behind 6-7 freshman wing DJ Hall, and coach Terrence Johnson did enough to keep Hall in San Marcos. That makes Texas State a possible surprise team in its first Pac-12 season.
Then there’s Utah State, which looks like the best team in the league not named Gonzaga. The Aggies have been outstanding for the better part of the last decade, despite an astonishing six coaching changes since 2018.
Ben Jacobson arrives after 20 years at Northern Iowa and kept potential Pac-12 Player of the Year Mason Falslev along with forward Karson Templin. If former BYU and Virginia guard Dallin Hall remains eligible, Utah State could be a real problem for Gonzaga and should reach the NCAA Tournament either way.
Washington State rounds out the slate as a program Gonzaga has thoroughly controlled. The Bulldogs have won the last nine meetings, including all four when the Cougars were WCC affiliates. David Riley has had a hard time holding the roster together because of Washington State’s limited NIL budget, and while this year’s team has some talent on paper, it is hard to see the Cougars finishing in the top half of the Pac-12.
In Other News...
Washington State Just Made The Change Its Offense Desperately Needed
Washington State is making a quarterback change heading into its next game, with head coach Kirby Moore turning to redshirt freshman Owen Eshelman after reviewing the recent film and weighing Caden Pinnicks uneven play. The move signals a clear attempt to shake the offense out of its current rhythm, and it puts Eshelman in position to make his collegiate starting debut against Oregon State.
For the Cougars, the timing matters because the offense has been searching for steadier execution, and the latest stretch of inconsistency left the staff looking for a different answer. Eshelman now gets the first crack at settling things down, while Pinnick steps aside after handling the job for the opening stretch of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Boise States Pac-12 Title Path Is Starting To Feel Very Real
At the midpoint of the 2026 college football season, Boise State and Oregon State have separated themselves from the rest of the Pac-12, and the league table is starting to look a lot more like a two-team race. Boise State helped sharpen that picture with a narrow road win at Fresno State, while Oregon State backed up its standing with a lopsided home victory over San Diego State, giving both programs a firm grip on the top of the conference race heading into the fall stretch.
The bigger picture now points to Nov. 14, when those two teams meet in a matchup that could help decide not just the standings, but also who gets the edge for home field in the Pac-12 championship game. For everyone else in the league, including Washington State, the job is simple enough but not easy: keep winning, keep pressure on the front-runners, and hope the path to the title game does not get narrowed much more before November arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Washington States Quarterback Search May Already Be Looking To 2027
Washington States quarterback picture has already become one of the more pressing storyline to watch, and not just because of the struggles around the current starter, Caden Pinnick. With the Cougars taking a hard look at what comes next, the conversation has widened beyond the present season and into future roster planning, where every viable arm matters and every possible bridge to stability is worth tracking.
One name that fits that broader search is Joshua Wood, whose production at the FCS level has kept him on the radar as a potential long-term answer. Wood has shown enough in his current stop to make him an intriguing option if Washington State is thinking beyond immediate fixes, and his path back toward major-college football makes him a player worth monitoring as the Cougars sort through what their quarterback room could look like in the seasons ahead. [Read more 🡒]