NCAA Basketball: Gonzaga vs. Kansas could lead off 2020-21 season

Heavyweight NCAA Basketball programs Gonzaga and Kansas could open the season against one another if things hopefully work out.

Among many of the scheduling news that happened in NCAA Basketball, the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Kansas Jayhawks came to an agreement for a home-and-home series, set to start in the 2021-22 season.

However, if things go according to a “new” plan, these two programs could be facing off for three consecutive years, including a month from now. It came in a hurry after ESPN reportedly pulled the plug on eight multi-team events (MTE) in Orlando, due to the conferences not being on the same page when it came to testing protocols.

These issues have been going on all offseason in these unique times during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it hasn’t stopped teams from pursuing other potential setups to get non-conference matchups going on from November 25th to December 31st.

For Gonzaga, this is a massive boost to its non-conference schedule. The Bulldogs are a top-5 preseason team and a major draw but is relying on having a big set of opponents before WCC play, in order to boost their potential seed for the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

When it comes to the Jayhawks, their schedule has all but been set, featuring an 18-game Big 12 schedule, along with Creighton, Tennessee, and Kentucky in the Champions Classic, which is still set to be on.

That Champions Classic usually starts off the NCAA Basketball season but we as fans could see a couple of championship contenders have an instant classic. Pardon the bad attempt at a pun but it’s hard not to get excited about these teams facing off. There are plenty of big storylines, including the battle of x’s and o’s between head coaches Mark Few and Bill Self.

On the court, we’ll see five-star freshman guards Bryce Thompson and Jalen Suggs duke it out on the perimeter, while seniors Corey Kispert and Marcus Garrett will be the leaders and go-to players in crunchtime. Inside, Drew Timme and David McCormack will be an elite battle of offensive vs defensive strengths.

This isn’t a guaranteed event to occur and the event still needs a 4th team to play both Auburn and Kansas. But for now, we as NCAA Basketball fans can get excited about one of the top matchups of the upcoming season, potentially happening on opening night.