Gonzaga opens college basketball season with home game vs. mid-major team

Bulldogs will open the college basketball season on Nov. 3

Texas Southern Tigers head coach Johnny Jones and his program will face the Gonzaga Bulldogs in their 2025-26 regular season opener from Spokane. | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

Gonzaga will usher in the new college basketball season with a home game against Texas Southern.

The Bulldogs are set to host the Tigers out of the Southwestern Athletic Conference on Nov. 3 — the official opening day of the 2025-26 regular season — at the McCarthey Athletic Center, according to Texas Southern's official schedule that was released Monday.

Gonzaga, which has yet to finalize its 2025-26 schedule, should be close to putting the final touches on its loaded nonconference slate with the addition of Texas Southern to the calendar. Confirmation of the Nov. 3 game brings the Bulldogs' nonleague game count to 11, leaving Mark Few and his staff two more spots to fill before the season tips off in November.

Who is Texas Southern?

Coming off a 15-17 campaign and a fifth-place finish in the 12-team SWAC, the Houston-based Tigers seek their first above .500 season since they went 19-13 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2022. To accomplish that, head coach Johnny Jones will need a veteran group of seniors to step up and replace the voids left behind by six of the team's top seven scorers from 2024-25.

Kolby Granger, a 6-foot-5 graduate student from Missouri City, Texas, figures to lead the pack alongside 6-foot-6 guard and fellow returner Kehlin Farooq. Granger, while appearing in 31 games and making 20 starts, put up 7.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game and shot a career-best 37.3% from downtown last season. Farooq provided a reliable presence off the bench with 5.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Another Challenging 2025-26 Non Conference schedule for your TSU Tigers, including 5 HOME GAMES #GoTigers #BeLegendary #TSUProud #TexasSouthernBasketball #TSUMBB
🚨🚨🚨 #GETYOURSEASONTICKETS pic.twitter.com/00Ts4ugdW7

— Texas Southern Basketball (@TSUMensHoops) August 4, 2025

The Tigers' array of upperclassmen also includes Jaylin Jackson-Posey (4.9 ppg), Zytarious Mortle (3.3 ppg) and Josh Farmer (4.4 ppg), among others. Texas Southern checks in at No. 256 in the country on barttorvik.com's preseason rankings.

The Nov. 3 matchup will mark the fifth head-to-head contest between Gonzaga and Texas Southern since 2014. The Zags won each of the first four games in convincing fashion, including a 101-62 victory over the Tigers in their most recent meeting on Dec. 4, 2019.

Who else is on Gonzaga's schedule?

The Zags' loaded nonconference schedule features nine games against power conference teams, including six standalones and three in the Players Era Festival from Nov. 24-26.

Gonzaga 2025-26 nonconference schedule

• Nov. 3 vs. Texas Southern
• Nov. 8 vs. Oklahoma (Spokane Arena)
• Nov. 11 vs. Creighton
• Nov. 14 at Arizona State
• Nov. 24 vs. Alabama (Las Vegas)
• Nov. 25 vs. Maryland (Las Vegas)
• Nov. 26 vs. TBD (Las Vegas)
• Dec. 5 vs. Kentucky (Nashville, Tennessee)
• Dec. 13 vs. UCLA (Seattle)
• Dec. 17 vs. Campbell
• TBD vs. Baylor