Gonzaga's Kennel Club ranked among best student sections in college basketball

Gonzaga has won well over 90% of their games at The Kennel since it opened in 2004

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

The 2025-26 college basketball season is one month away, with Gonzaga's first game set for Nov. 3 against Texas Southern at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Gonzaga has played at McCarthey — or The Kennel — for over 20 years now, and the 6,000-seat arena has long been considered one of the toughest places to play for opponents in all of college hoops.

That is thanks in large part to the rowdy student section, nicknamed the Kennel Club, which actually started back in the mid-1980s - well before Gonzaga was a perennial NCAA Tournament team under Mark Few.

The Kennel Club's gameday atmosphere includes choreographed chants, both pregame and in-game, and has been known to cause miscommunications for opposing teams when players are unable to hear their coaches or teammates due to crowd noise.

Gonzaga's reputation remains, with national analyst Andy Katz including the Kennel Club among his list of the top ten student sections in college basketball.

Gonzaga’s student section jumps in unison while holding a big head of forward Ben Gregg. | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

The Kennel Club came in at No. 9 on the list, one spot ahead of The Show, the student section for future Pac-12 foe San Diego State at Viejas Arena. The rest of the top ten included student sections at Duke, Purdue, Kansas, Auburn, Michigan State, Illinois, Arizona, and Iowa State.

Gonzaga has lost just 22 times at The Kennel since it opened in October of 2004, boasting a win rate well over 90%. There are quite a few WCC opponents that have never once beaten the Zags at McCarthey, a list that includes San Francisco, Portland, Pepperdine, San Diego, and Pacific.

Santa Clara didn't beat Gonzaga at The Kennel until last season's 103-99 win, and LMU had not done so until they got a narrow win in 2023.

Gonzaga’s student section applies pressure during an inbound play against San Francisco. | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Gonzaga also dominates in the non-conference at home, although many of the opponents they bring in are buy games, often against lower-resource teams ranked outside the top 250 at KenPom. Still, when they do manage to get high-profile power conference teams out to Spokane, the Zags remain hard to beat.

Notable home wins include Texas in 2021, North Carolina in 2019, Texas A&M in 2018, Creighton in 2017, Notre Dame and Butler in 2011, and multiple wins over Washington, Washington State, and San Diego State.

Gonzaga will host Creighton at home again this season on Nov. 11, with home games also set against Texas Southern, Southern Utah, North Florida, and Campbell.

Gonzaga students in the Kennel Club dressed as beaver hunters for the matchup against Oregon State. | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

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