Gonzaga boasts one of the top home court advantages in college basketball

The Bulldogs don't lose often, but especially not at home

Gonzaga Bulldogs Kennel Club. | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

It's extremely rare to watch the Gonzaga Bulldogs lose a basketball game, but even more so when they are playing at home in the McCarthey Athletic Center. Mark Few and the Zags have been historically dominant over the past 25 years — regardless of where they are playing — but the home court advantage offered by 'The Kennel' is among the best in all of college basketball.

A recent study from Ryan Hammer of the Blue Blooded Podcast tracked the best home court advantages in the sport, splitting the results into power conference and non-power conference programs.

Gonzaga and the Kennel came in No. 3 among non-power conference teams, behind the Dayton Flyers at UD Arena and the Ohio Bobcats at the Convocation Center.

The data was compiled comparing home vs non-home win rate, net rating, and opponent field goal percentage over the past three years, a stretch of time where Gonzaga has gone 38-5 at The Kennel.

38-5 is obviously nothing to sneeze at — it's an 88.4% win rate after all — but it's actually below average for Gonzaga's home standards. Even stretching this data back five years instead of three would yield very different results, as the Zags did not lose a single home game in 2021-22 or 2020-21.

Former Gonzaga guard Nolan Hickman shoots in front of a packed Kennel. | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

In fact, the last home game Gonzaga lost prior to the 2022-23 season - when this study started — was in January of 2018 to Saint Mary's, one of the very few teams to ever defeat Gonzaga more than once at the Kennel.

The time period of this data is not doing Gonzaga any favors, although the other factor here is pretty simple: Gonzaga's home court doesn't stand out as a huge advantage because the Zags also win a bunch on the road and at neutral sites. Simply put, the data won't recognize a massive advantage at home if you are winning 80% of your road and neutral site games as well.

Plenty of familiar faces join Mark Few's team on this list, including San Diego State at No. 6, a team the Zags beat at the Viejas Arena last year, and which has beaten Gonzaga in Spokane multiple times. Boise State at ExtraMile Arena is on the list at No. 5, as well as Seattle University's Redhawk Center at No. 9 — although Gonzaga will almost certainly play them at nearby Climate Pledge Arena this upcoming season.

The McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Washington, home to the Gonzaga Bulldogs and one of the top-ranked environments in college basketball. | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

On the power conference side of things, Arkansas and Bud Walton Arena are the big winners, followed by Thompson-Boling Arena for Tennessee and the Chi Health Center for Creighton. Gonzaga will host Creighton at the Kennel on Nov. 11 this year and will play them on the road next season, setting up a fun home-and-home series between two of the best fan bases in college hoops.

Other environments Gonzaga has seen on this list include Kentucky at Rupp Arena and BYU at the Marriott Center at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively. Gonzaga handed Kentucky a rare loss at Rupp in 2024, and beat BYU in Provo the last two times they played there in February of 2022 and January of 2023.