Did Gonzaga just complete the best nonconference run in school history? The numbers won’t dispute it

Mark Few was purely going off memory.

Turns out the longtime Gonzaga coach has pretty impressive recall, to go along with the other qualities that have cemented him as one of sport’s best over the last 30 years.

Following Gonzaga’s 91-82 victory over Oregon last Sunday in Portland, Few, in a brief moment of reflection, speculated the seventh-ranked Zags (12-1) had just completed the most impressive nonconference run in his 27 years at the helm.

Maybe not the best from a sheer record standpoint – past teams have sprinted through nonleague play without losing – but best win-loss total against the strongest schedule? There’s a case to be had.

“27 years of this stuff. We’ve always tried to schedule difficult, especially this last 10 years or 12 years, we’ve been trying to schedule to be a 1 seed in the noncon,” Few said. “And I think – I’m sure somebody will try to dispute this with analytics, but I think it’s the best run we’ve had in the nonconference.”

Analytics, win-loss record, eye test, etc. However you choose to measure it, Gonzaga’s recent 13-game stretch holds up against any the program’s had, both during Few’s tenure and in the modern era.

The Zags have finished nonconference play with one or zero losses on just seven occasions. The 2020-21 national runner-up team was unbeaten, but it played four fewer nonconference games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2016-17 squad that reached the national final entered West Coast Conference play with a 12-0 mark, but didn’t go through the nonleague gauntlet the 2025-26 team just completed.

Which brings us to the next relevant data point: Gonzaga’s record against programs competing in the “power conferences” (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, SEC). The Zags won a program-record eight games against teams in that category during November and December, and tied the record for most games played against power-conference opponents under Few (9).

“Literally with who we’ve played, where we’ve played, how the games have stacked up. It just felt like that and that’s not taking anything away,” Few said. “We’ve had teams go undefeated to the very, very end of the season, but sometimes we weren’t able to play the type of schedule we played. The COVID year, we certainly weren’t and I can’t off the top of my head remember how we did in ’17 or ’19.”

Analytics make a compelling case for this year’s group, too. According to KenPom.com, which computes “strength of schedule” for every Division I team, Gonzaga completed the fourth toughest slate in school history with a rating of +8.7 – a figure that will continue to move throughout the season. Previous Gonzaga teams have faced more challenging competition according to the KenPom metric – +10.6 (2008-09), +9.5 (2006-07) and +8.9 (2024-25) – but each dropped at least four games during nonleague play.

The 2025-26 Zags also matched the school record for ranked nonconference wins, beating No. 23 Creighton, No. 8 Alabama, No. 18 Kentucky and No. 25 UCLA. Their nonleague schedule featured eight teams that played in last year’s NCAA Tournament, seven that made the Round of 32 and four that advanced to the Sweet 16 (Michigan, Maryland, Alabama, Kentucky).

Updated bracket projections from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi estimate five of Gonzaga’s nonconference opponents will make the field this March, with unbeaten Michigan as the top overall seed and Oklahoma as the last team in.

Margin of victory leans in favor of the 2025-26 Zags. Previous Gonzaga teams have put together solid resumes, but it often required scraping by top opponents in single-possession or overtime games.

As one of only two teams in the country that rank top-10 in both adjusted offense (No. 4) and defense (No. 9) per KenPom, the Zags blitzed through their nonconference schedule, outscoring opponents by 24.8 points per game. That signifies the highest nonleague scoring margin under Few, edging six other teams that finished with a margin of 20 ppg or higher.

It’s even more impressive when you consider the damage inflicted by Gonzaga’s only setback, a 40-point loss to Michigan in the championship game of the Players Era Festival. Remove the Michigan game from the equation and GU’s margin rises to 30.1 ppg.

Gonzaga won 11 of its 12 nonconference games by double figures. That would’ve been a perfect 12 for 12 had the Zags not conceded a layup to Oregon’s Dezdrick Lindsay with three seconds remaining in Sunday’s nine-point victory. Outside of the shortened 2020-21 campaign, Gonzaga’s played in at least two single-digit games every other year since Few’s debut season in 1999-2000.

The nonconference run included the largest margin of victory against a Division I opponent under Few – a 122-50 victory over Southern Utah. Gonzaga also won three nonconference games by at least 50 points for the first time in the coach’s tenure.

“Certainly as good as we’ve done in the nonconference and super proud of these guys,” Few said.

Location and environment are two other things to consider.

The Zags won a true road game at Arizona State and a pseudo-road contest against Kentucky at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, where Wildcats fans accounted for well over 90% of the 18,507 fans in attendance. Gonzaga played just six of its 13 nonconference games in Spokane, matching the fewest since Few’s first season in 1999-2000, when the Zags played all but five of their games outside city limits.

Fourth-year junior Braden Huff, the longest-tenured player on Few’s roster, has watched or played in 19 nonconference games against ranked opponents since arriving at Gonzaga in 2022-23. Without access to the numbers and data, Huff agreed this year’s nonleague schedule has been the most demanding he’s been a part of.

“Since I’ve been here, for sure,” Huff said. “Like coach said, not too familiar with the 2017, 2019 team, COVID year nonconference schedules. But since I’ve been here, definitely the best and I’m proud of how we’ve approached every game in this noncon. Want to continue for WCC play.”