Baylor, Gonzaga finalizing deal to play opening night in marquee matchup to start 2024-25 season

College basketball has long struggled with getting eyes on its product at the onset of new seasons, and for months, it appeared as if opening night of the 2024-25 campaign could be the sport’s weakest yet. That is no longer the case as Baylor and Gonzaga have entered the final stages of an agreement to play on Monday, Nov. 4 in a matchup that is guaranteed to rev the engine of the sport, sources tell CBS Sports.

The presumptive preseason top 10 teams will meet at Spokane Arena in downtown Spokane, Washington, as opposed to Gonzaga’s on-campus venue, the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Two likely future Hall-of-Fame coaches.

Two of the winningest programs of the past five seasons.

And a national title game rematch from three years ago.

That’s quite a way for the 2024-25 season to begin.

Baylor and Gonzaga squared off for the 2021 national championship inside the COVID-19 bubble in Indianapolis, with the Bears blitzing the Bulldogs 86-70 to win the program’s first national title. The teams last met on Dec. 2, 2022, in a 64-63 win by Baylor in South Dakota. BU holds a 5-2 edge across seven meetings dating back to 1991.

Baylor’s Scott Drew and Gonzaga’s Mark Few are especially tight. The coaches have worked together over the last two months to secure a matchup that works for their programs while simultaneously serving as a boon to college basketball. They previously explored Las Vegas and even Mexico as potential destinations for this game, sources told CBS Sports, but logistics led them to playing in Gonzaga’s home city. 

Tip time and television network are still to-be-determined. CBS Sports first reported the likelihood of the matchup earlier this summer. 

The Bears will enter the 2024-25 season at No. 7 in Gary Parrish’s Top 25 And 1, one spot ahead of the Zags.

While Duke’s Cooper Flagg will be the most hyped freshman/player in the sport heading into the season, Baylor freshman wing V.J. Edgecombe may wind up just as impactful. Drew also brought aboard key transfers in Norchad Omier (Miami) and Jeremy Roach (Duke) with Langston Love and Jayden Nunn serving as key returnees for BU.

Big man Graham Ike and point guard Andrew Nembhard are the most notable returnees from a Gonzaga squad that made the Sweet 16 for a ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament.

For Baylor, the season opener will kick off the toughest week any team will face the first week of the season. The Bears will face Arkansas and new coach John Calipari four days later on Nov. 9 in Dallas.

Aside from Baylor-Gonzaga, though, opening night will be overrun with nearly 90 unimaginative matchups, many of them involving power-conference teams hosting mid-major fodder — games that will invariably end in blowouts. Weak and slow starts have long been a problem for college basketball as many high-major coaches look to open the season against buy-game opponents that figure to be easy victories.

Joining Baylor-Gonzaga as the next-most interesting game on opening night is Texas vs. Ohio State in Las Vegas.