Gonzaga to open WCC schedule on New Year's Eve, close with Saint Mary's matchup
Aug. 2—Gonzaga's conference schedule will feature a home opener on New Year's Eve, along with an intriguing Senior Night finale against the Bulldogs' top West Coast Conference rival.
The 16-game schedule, unveiled Tuesday afternoon by the WCC, will send the Zags on the road for three of their first four games, but keeps them at home for five of the final eight conference games, including a Feb. 25 home finale against longtime nemesis Saint Mary's.
With the exception of Pacific, Gonzaga will play every WCC team at home and the Bulldogs will travel eight times, missing out on a game at the University of San Diego.
Times and television slots for GU's conference games will be announced at a later date.
Gonzaga's conference opener will take place on Dec. 31 against Pepperdine at McCarthey Athletic Center. Due to COVID-19 scheduling changes, the Bulldogs also WCC play in 2021-22 with a home contest against the Waves.
The next three WCC games will take place outside of Spokane, on Jan. 5 at San Francisco, Jan. 7 at Santa Clara and Jan. 12 against BYU. With BYU's move to the Big-12 in 2023-24, it could mark Gonzaga's last game in Provo for the foreseeable future.
Gonzaga returns home to play Portland on Jan. 14 before hosting Loyola Marymount on Jan. 19.
The Bulldogs will visit Pacific on Jan. 21 and take a week-long break before visiting Portland on Jan. 28.
Gonzaga will close out the season series against Santa Clara on Feb. 2 in Spokane before traveling to the Bay Area for the third time to play a single game against Saint Mary's on Feb. 4.
A six-game stretch to close out the conference season begins with consecutive home games against San Francisco (Feb. 9) and BYU (Feb. 11). Gonzaga will then travel to Loyola Marymount (Feb. 16) and Pepperdine (Feb. 18) before wrapping up WCC play with home games against San Diego (Feb. 23) and Saint Mary's (Feb. 25).
The Bulldogs and Gaels have played in the regular season finale three of the last four seasons, with the only exception being 2020-21 when Gonzaga finished at BYU.
The WCC Tournament is schedule for March 2-7 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Each of the top two seeds earn a bye to the conference tournament semifinals, which are set to take place on March 6.
Gonzaga has won the regular-season WCC championship each of the last 10 seasons and 20 of the last 21. The Bulldogs have won the conference tournament 20 total times including each of the last three seasons.
