Gonzaga returning to Maui Invitational in 2023 with Kansas, UCLA and others

A particularly strong field at the 2023 Maui Invitational will feature Gonzaga and six other high-major programs, according to a school news release.

The complete field, first reported Monday night by Sports Illustrated, will feature the Bulldogs along with newly crowned national champion Kansas, UCLA, Marquette, Purdue, Tennessee, Syracuse and host Chaminade University.

The Bulldogs will make their return to the mid-November tournament at Lahaina Civic Center five years after beating Duke and Zion Williamson 89-87 to capture the 2018 Maui Invitational championship. Gonzaga, which will be making its sixth appearance, also won the Maui title in 2009.

Kansas and Syracuse have both won the Maui Invitational on three occasions while UCLA has won it once.

The Bulldogs and Kansas are scheduled to begin a home-and-home series next season that sends Gonzaga to Lawrence in December with Kansas making the return trip to Spokane in 2023. It’s likely one of those games, or both, would be shifted with the possibility of the teams playing in Maui.

Gonzaga and UCLA have extended history on the hardwood, meeting last season in Las Vegas as the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked teams in the country. That game was a rematch of the 2021 Final Four, at which the Bulldogs beat the Bruins on a long 3-pointer at the buzzer by Jalen Suggs.

Gonzaga and Syracuse have met twice, in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, when the Orange defeated the Bulldogs 87-65, and in the 2016 tournament, when Jim Boeheim’s team bounced Mark Few’s in the Sweet 16. The Zags have played multiple games against the other high-major teams in the field: Purdue, Marquette and Tennessee.