Gonzaga enters its final West Coast Conference season with a 33-game win streak against San Francisco, so it would be hard to make an argument that home-court advantage has played a big role – if one at all – in the all-time series between the Bulldogs and Dons.
Still, Mark Few and his coaching staff probably didn’t take any issue with USF’s decision to move yet another game against Gonzaga from the tight, hostile confines of War Memorial Gym to the more spacious and neutral Chase Center.
For the third straight season Gonzaga’s road game against USF, scheduled for Feb. 18 this year, will take place at the 18,000-seat building that primarily serve as the home arena for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. A tipoff time has yet to be determined, but the game will air on ESPN or ESPN2.
Gonzaga’s come out on top of every game against USF since 2012, winning by an average margin of 16.1 points, but the closest call during the 33-game streak came in 2023, the last time the teams played at War Memorial.
After trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half, Zags pulled in front with nine seconds remaining on Rasir Bolton’s tip-in and came up with a stop at the other end to win 77-75.
Gonzaga managed to pull away in the second half of both Chase Center games, beating USF 86-68 in 2024 and 95-75 last season.
Conscious they’d be conceding some of the homecourt advantage they get playing at War Memorial, USF moved games against Gonzaga to the downtown Chase Center as a way to increase ticket sales heighten brand exposure. USF’s last game against Gonzaga at War Memorial drew 3,300 fans whereas attendance figures for both games at the Chase Center exceeded 6,300.
“Hopefully, we’ll limit the number of tickets sold to Gonzaga fans,” USF coach Chris Gerlufsen said before the 2024 matchup. “I think it’s great for our conference, it’s going to put our conference in a different light, on a national stage. So I’m good with it.”
USF is again expected to be among Gonzaga’s top challengers in the WCC. The Dons have gone 68-35 in each of Gerlufsen’s first three seasons and return three starters in guards Ryan Beasley and Tyrone Riley IV, along with forward Ndewedo Newbury.
The Zags will play five games in venues that are home to NBA, NHL or WNBA teams during the regular season. GU’s neutral-site game against Kentucky on Dec. 5 will take place at Bridgestone Arena, home to the NHL’s Nashville Predators. The Zags have two games, against UCLA on Dec. 13 and Seattle U on Jan. 17, at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, the home arena of the NHL’s Kraken and WNBA’s Storm. GU’s nonconference slate concludes with a Dec. 21 matchup against Oregon at Portland Trail Blazers’ Moda Center.
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