Gonzaga and Michigan State to play game on aircraft carrier

It appears that the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Michigan State Spartans will indeed play a game on an aircraft carrier in San Diego, California, on Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11, 2022, for another high-profile non-conference game.

It will be the first time the Zags have played Michigan State since the 2011-12 season.

The Bulldogs, widely expected to be one of the top, if not the top, teams in college basketball next season is assembling yet another challenging non-conference schedule to bolster its resume. Michigan State is expected to open the season as a ranked team, and the Zags have confirmed dates on the road in Texas (Nov. 16), vs. Baylor in South Dakota (Dec. 12), and at a “neutral” Birmingham site against Alabama (Dec. 17).

That is in addition to the PK 85 in Portland, Oregon, in which the Zags will be in a bracket with the likes of Duke, Florida, Oregon State, Portland State, Purdue, West Virginia, and Xavier.

Last season, the Zags essentially lined up five top-tier non-conference opponents and we have already hit that number for next season. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the non-conference schedule fills out. Acknowledging that a game against the Washington Huskies is on the books (Dec. 9), the question will be if we will see some more “better” games, or just an avalanche of sub-300 KenPom teams. The hope is for the former.

Hopefully, the weather holds for the game against Michigan State. The last time the Zags took part in one of these Veteran’s Day-related ESPN contests in 2015, in Okinawa, Japan, the game was called off at halftime due to slippery floor conditions.