Gonzaga March Madness Hub: Schedule, Seed, Opponent, and Path to Final Four

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs are officially dancing, earning a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament where they will face No. 14 Kennesaw State on Thursday, March 19 at the Moda Center in Portland, OR.

Gonzaga (30-3, 16-2) battled significant adversity all season long, including the loss of star forward Braden Huff to a knee injury back in mid-January. While Huff is no longer using crutches - with coach Few reporting the big man is jogging and getting shots up - he is still considered 'doubtful' to play in the first two round games this weekend.

The Zags were also without Graham Ike for a trio of games in conference play, while Jalen Warley - who replaced Huff in the starting lineup - has battled a quad contusion over the last six weeks, which resulted in the 6'7 wing sitting the final two games of the regular season.

Despite all that, Gonzaga recorded 30+ wins for the ninth time in program history and seventh time since 2016-17, when they made their first national championship appearance.

For them to get back to the Final Four, they will have to go through a gauntlet of challenges in the West Region, which are laid out below:

From 68 to 16

Game 1: Gonzaga vs Kennesaw State, Thursday, March 19 (Moda Center, Portland, OR)

Kennesaw State won the automatic bid from Conference USA, going 21-13 overall and 10-10 in league play to finish sixth. However, the Owls rattled off three straight wins over Western Kentucky, Sam Houston State, and Louisiana Tech to win the automatic bid.

Antoine Pettway's team plays at a frenetic pace, coming in No. 19 in adjusted tempo according to KenPom, which should make this a high-octane game. The Owls are also very solid at defending on the interior, holding opponents to 47% on two point shots - 29th in the country. However, Amir Taylor is the lone player over 6'8 who plays rotation minutes for this team, giving Graham Ike a great chance at feasting on the block.

Lastly, a trip from Georgia to Portland is significantly longer than Gonzaga's trip down the road, which works in GU's favor.

Game 2: Gonzaga vs BYU or Texas or NC State, Saturday, March 21 (Moda Center, Portland, OR)

If Gonzaga advances they will play the winner of a No. 6 vs. No. 11 matchup between BYU and the winner of a play-in game between NC State and Texas.

Texas - coached by Sean Miller - finished just 18-14 on the year and 9-9 in league play, but have among the most efficient offensive teams in the country. Meanwhile NC State is also a top 20 efficiency team offensively, although they stumbled mightily down the stretch in the ACC.

However the most appealing potential matchup here is BYU, a longtime rival of Gonzaga's in the WCC before they moved over the Big 12.

BYU rosters the potential No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft in AJ Dybantsa, a 6'9 scoring machine that will be a matchup nightmare for Gonzaga.

But BYU does struggle defensively, and the loss of sharpshooting senior Richie Saunders hurts their spacing in a major way.

Jalen Warley's defense on Dybantsa and Ike's scoring down low will be crucial in a potential BYU matchup - although neither No. 11 seed is a cakewalk either.

The Rest of the West

Should Gonzaga advance out of their pod, they will play the winner out of the following four teams: No. 15 Queens, No. 10 Missouri, No. 7 Miami (FL), or No. 2 Purdue.

Purdue is very likely to advance here, although Miami has been tremendous this year under first year head coach Jai Lucas and is worth considering as a potential upset pick.

Purdue and Gonzaga have squared off twice in the NCAA Tournament, with the Boilermakers winning both games. These two teams are also scheduled to play each other to open up the 2026-27 season, which would make an Elite Eight matchup here even more exciting.