San Diego State and Gonzaga have signed to play a two-game, home-and-home series over the next two seasons, with the first game coming up in December.
That will be on the road at the Bulldogs’ McCarthey Athletic Center on Dec. 29, with the return game at Viejas Arena in the 2024-25 season.
“I think it’s two of the best programs on the West Coast playing each other. So, I think that’s a great thing,” head coach Brian Dutcher said.
The game in the coming season will be the fifth time the programs have met and the first since the Aztecs upset then No. 12-ranked Gonzaga 72-70 at Viejas Arena on Dec. 21, 2017.
SDSU and the Zags have split the all-time series two games apiece, with both Aztec wins coming against a Gonzaga program that was nationally ranked.
San Diego State, at the time ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll, won 79-76 on Nov. 16, 2010, at the CBE Classic in Spokane, Wash. against then No. 11 Gonzaga.
The first matchup, in which the Bulldogs prevailed, came decades ago.
Gonzaga earned a 72-69 win on Dec. 19, 1959, at the Tournament of Roses event on a neutral court in Portland, Ore. They also won 69-48 on Nov. 16, 2014, in Spokane when the Zags were ranked No. 14.
Since the start of the 2009-10 campaign, the Zags have won 86% of their games (425-69), the best winning percentage in the nation. At “The Kennel,” Gonzaga owns the second-best home record, 207-14 (.937) in that time frame.
The Aztecs rank sixth in the nation since the start of the 2009-10 season, winning 75.8% (364-114) of their games overall and are seventh on their home floor, going 199-25 (88.8%).
San Diego State, a fifth seed, reached the national championship game – for the first time – in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The Aztecs compiled a 32-7 record, including a 15-3 mark in Mountain West action and won the MW conference regular season and tournament titles, as well as the South Regional in the NCAA Tournament.
Gonzaga, a 3-seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, fell to eventual national champion Connecticut in the Elite Eight. It finished the season with a 31-6 record, winning its 10th West Coast Conference title in the last 11 seasons.
Gonzaga reached the national championship game twice, in 2021 and 2017, falling each time.
