Nine of Gonzaga’s 16 WCC games will be on ESPN networks

Nine of Gonzaga’s 16 West Coast Conference games, including both showdowns against Saint Mary’s and BYU, will be televised on ESPN’s family of networks, according to a conference release Tuesday.

The Zags will be on ESPN stations at least 14 times overall, including three games at the Maui Invitational and home games against Texas A&M (Nov. 15, ESPN2, 8:30 p.m.) and Washington (Dec. 5, ESPN2, 8 p.m.).

Gonzaga vs. Pacific on Jan. 10 will mark the Zags’ first conference appearance of the 17 WCC games to be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. The Tigers and Zags will tip off at the McCarthey Athletic Center at 8 p.m. on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.

Gonzaga will have four 7 p.m. tipoffs and four at 8 p.m., including the rematch against Pacific in Stockton, California, (Feb. 28), and road games against BYU (Jan. 31) and Loyola Marymount (Feb. 14).

The 7 p.m. tips are at San Francisco (Jan. 12), vs. Saint Mary’s (Feb. 9), at San Diego (Feb. 16) and vs. BYU (Feb. 23).

The game time hasn’t been set for Gonzaga’s visit to Saint Mary’s in Moraga, California, in the regular-season finale March 2, but it will be on ESPN or ESPN2.

Gonzaga leads all WCC teams with nine ESPN appearances in conference play, follow by BYU’s seven and the Saint Mary’s six. The Gaels have Saint has 10 ESPN appearances overall; BYU has eight.

ESPN networks will air WCC Tournament games from Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, beginning with two quarterfinal games and concluding with the championship contest March 12 on ESPN.

The rest of Gonzaga’s television schedule will be released at a later date.

Nonconference schedule set

Gonzaga officially announced its nonconference schedule. There were no surprises, since all 15 games have been reported previously.

The schedule contains two tough four-game stretches. The first begins with a home date against Texas A&M, followed by three matchups in three days at the Maui Invitational.

Texas A&M is coming off a Sweet 16 appearance but lost several key players. GU opens with Illinois in Maui, followed by either Arizona or Iowa State. The other half of the bracket features Duke vs. San Diego State and Auburn vs. Xavier.

GU entertains North Dakota State on Nov. 26 before tackling another arduous four-game stretch. The Zags visit Creighton on Dec. 1, entertain rival Washington on Dec. 5, face Tennessee in Phoenix on Dec. 9 and visit North Carolina on Dec. 15.

Creighton routinely plays in front of a packed house of 17,000-plus. Washington returns four double-digit scorers and all five starters from last season. Tennessee and North Carolina are projected as preseason top 10 teams.