Zags, Mustangs in early-season showdown
Gonzaga has only two games against teams ranked in the preseason Top 25 and the first matchup comes Monday night against No. 22 SMU at the MAC.
Arizona (Dec. 6, in Tucson) is the other ranked foe on GU's schedule. UCLA, Memphis, BYU and Saint Mary's all received votes in the preseason poll, as did Minnesota, a potential Zag opponent at the NIT Tip-Off in New York.
Find my GU-SMU preview here.
The Mustangs are coached by Larry Brown, the only coach with an NBA title (Detroit, 2004) and NCAA title (Kansas, 1988) on his resume. Brown's latest rebuilding project has gone well. In Brown's second season, he led SMU to the NIT finals last year for the program's first post-season berth in 14 years.
Brown is also the coach that traded ex-Zag Adam Morrison from Charlotte to Los Angeles. Morrison was on GU's staff last season as he completed his degree.