Montana State program coming off strong Big Sky season set to visit Gonzaga on Nov. 17

Aug. 21—Gonzaga hasn't released its final nonconference schedule, but anyone willing to do some digging can probably discover a few of the missing pieces.

For example, a quick internet search of Montana State's schedule would've led someone to the third known home game of Gonzaga's 2026-27 nonleague slate.

According to Montana State's athletics website, the Bobcats are scheduled to visit Gonzaga on Nov. 17, one week before Mark Few's program takes on the 16-team Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.

A tipoff time and television broadcast details will be announced at a later date.

SB Nation's Gonzaga website, Slipper Still Fits, identified the matchup with Montana State hours after The Spokesman-Review discovered another home game against NAIA Eastern Oregon, thanks to an updated schedule on the Mountaineers' site.

With the additions of Montana State and Eastern Oregon, the Zags now have 12 known dates on their nonconference schedule, not including a potential championship matchup at the Players Era event on Nov. 28. Gonzaga will play at least four nonleague games in Spokane and won't have to leave town between a Nov. 2 opener against Purdue at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas and the team's return to Sin City on Nov. 24 for Players Era.

There have been 49 previous meetings between Gonzaga and Montana State, but none since 1997, with a majority of the prior matchups occurring while both programs were part of the Big Sky Conference. The Zags have a 27-22 advantage in the all-time series and have prevailed in seven of the last nine meetings.

Under the guidance of fourth-year coach Matt Logie, who earned a four-year contract extension on Wednesday, the Bobcats have won exactly 50% of their games, going 18-14 last season, 15-18 in 2024-25 and 17-18 in 2023-24 for a total record of 50-50. Montana State earned an automatic NCAA Tournament berth during Logie's first season, marking the program's third straight trip to March Madness. The Bobcats went each of the two previous years under former coach Danny Sprinkle, who's now at Washington.

Montana State loses its top three scorers from a team that finished second in the Big Sky with a 12-6 record before losing to Idaho in the second round of the conference tournament.

The Bobcats have to replace more than 31 points per game from their starting lineup, but they do return their fourth, fifth and sixth-leading scorers, including forward Christian King, a Kirkland native and Seattle Prep graduate who averaged 12.6 points and 4.5 rebounds last season.

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