Report: Gonzaga, Creighton agree to nonleague series starting with Nov. 11 game at Kennel

Gonzaga is guaranteed to see a handful of the best teams from the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 as part of another loaded nonconference schedule next season.

Add a Big East power to that group .

Gonzaga and Creighton have reportedly agreed to a multiyear series that will send the Bluejays to Spokane this coming season before the Zags make a return trip to Omaha, Nebraska, in 2026-27, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.

The first game of the home-and-home series will take place on Nov. 11 at the Kennel, per Rothstein. A date for the return game at CHI Health Center has yet to be determined.

It becomes the second major addition to Gonzaga’s nonconference schedule in the past two week, coming just eight days after Rothstein reported the Zags had agreed to a nonconference contest with Oklahoma. GU’s game against Creighton will come just three days after the Zags and Sooners meet at the Arena in what’s likely to be one of the first marquee games of the 2025-26 college basketball season.

Even prior to both announcements, the Zags had lined up one of the most competitive nonconference schedules in the country, including neutral games against Baylor (location TBD), UCLA (Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena) and Kentucky (Nashville, Tennessee’s Bridgestone Arena), a road game at Arizona State and a trip to the Players Era Festival, where GU could see Creighton for the second time.

The Players Era field in Las Vegas also features Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State, St. Joseph’s, St. John’s, Syracuse, Tennessee and UNLV.

Gonzaga has previous history with Creighton, most recently facing the Bluejays in the Sweet 16 of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Zags bounced Oklahoma in the Round of 32 to set up a meeting with Creighton at Hinkle Fieldhouse, trouncing the Bluejays 83-65. GU’s path to the national title game featured games against two other teams the Zags will face in 2025-26, meeting up with UCLA in the Final Four and Baylor in the championship.

Gonzaga snd Creighton played a home-and-home series in 2017-18 and 2018-19, with Gonzaga winning both matchups. The Zags had three players – Zach Norvell Jr., Silas Melson and Killian Tillie – score at least 20 points in a 91-74 victory at the Kennel in 2017 and relied on a similar formula the following year, when Norvell , Brandon Clarke and Rui Hachimura combined to score 77 points in a 103-92 win at CHI Health Center in Omaha.

The Jesuit institutions begin their newest series one season after the departure of point guard Ryan Nembhard, who played two years at Creighton before transferring to Gonzaga for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, setting multiple school and conference assist records for Mark Few’s program last season.

Creighton, which may be entering the final years of longtime coach Greg McDermott’s tenure with the school, is replacing three-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner along with sharpshooting guard Steven Ashworth from a team that went 25-11 last season, finished second in the Big East standings and lost to top-seeded Auburn in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. According to CBS Sports, McDermott is eyeing an exit from the school in the next two years and Creighton has started its transition plan, hiring High Point head coach Alan Huss – a former McDermott aide – as an assistant coach and the school’s coach-in-waiting.

Considered a preseason Top 25 by multiple outlets, the Bluejays loaded up in the transfer portal, adding forward Owen Freeman, an Iowa transfer who was in contact with Gonzaga’s coaching staff during the early phases of his portal recruitment. Creighton also brings in Freeman’s Iowa teammate Josh Dix, along with forward Blake Harper of Liberty.

Gonzaga’s also dealing with turnover in its starting lineup, but similar to Creighton, also checks in as a Top 25 in most preseason polls.

The Zags return top scorer Graham Ike along with frontcourt mate Braden Huff, but have to replace Nembhard and two other members of their starting backcourt.

Despite winning the three most recent matchups between the schools, Creighton still holds a 6-5 advantage in the series against Gonzaga.