Gonzaga completes nonconference schedule with familiar mid-major opponent

The final team on Gonzaga's nonconference schedule has been identified.

The North Florida Ospreys announced their complete nonconference schedule on Tuesday, indicating they will play Gonzaga at the McCarthey Athletic Center on Dec. 7. That is the 13th and final known game for Mark Few and the Zags, completing what will be another ridiculously challenging slate before the team embarks on its final season of West Coast Conference play.

This matchup will be two days after the Zags return from Nashville, as they are set to take on Kentucky at Bridgestone Arena on Friday, Dec. 5.

North Florida is a familiar foe for Gonzaga, as these two teams met to kick off the 2022-23 season. The Zags won that game handily, 104-63, behind 22 points from Drew Timme, 16 points and five rebounds from Julian Strawther, and 15 points off the bench from Malachi Smith in his Gonzaga debut.

The Ospreys went 15-17 last year and 8-10 in the A-Sun conference, finishing seventh. They were among the worst defensive teams in college basketball, finishing 353rd in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency and 266th overall in the KenPom rankings.

Longtime head coach Matthew Driscoll departed after the season to take the associate head coach job at Kansas State, leaving Bobby Kennen in charge as the interim head coach.

Dec 21, 2024; Gainesville, Florida, USA; North Florida Ospreys head coach Matthew Driscoll. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

North Florida joins Texas Southern, Southern Utah, and Campbell as 'buy' games on Gonzaga's schedule, with all four of these matchups coming at home. The Zags will also host Creighton at home and Oklahoma at the Spokane Arena, with neutral site games scheduled against Kentucky in Nashville, UCLA in Seattle, Oregon in Portland, and Alabama, Maryland, and a third team to be determined in Las Vegas in the Player's Era Festival.

Gonzaga's lone true road game is in Tempe against Arizona State at Desert Financial Arena on Nov. 14.

Gonzaga typically puts together among the most competitive nonconference schedules in all of college basketball, and this upcoming season is no different. The Zags are playing more than half their games — a whopping seven opponents — against teams who are included in Jon Rothstein's top 45 rankings: UCLA (7), Kentucky (12), Alabama (17), Oregon (20), Creighton (25), Maryland (35), and Oklahoma (42). That doesn't include the team's third matchup in the Player's Era Festival, which could end up against a marquee team as well.

Gonzaga can play up to two exhibition games before the season opener against Texas Southern and so far, only one of those opponents — DII Western Oregon on Oct. 27 — is known at this time.

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