Who is Gonzaga's real rival? Well, that's a complicated question

April 11, 2024

SPOKANE, Wash. — Thirteen years ago, the student section at Washington, the Dawg Pack, stood in the Hec Edmundson Pavilion with their backs turned to the court, holding up signs that read “Dawgs Eat Dogs” while the Gonzaga basketball team was being introduced.

The night before that, they camped outside the gym in anticipation of what would be an epic matchup, with Washington taking down Gonzaga, 99-95, despite Adam Morrison pouring in 43 points.

A similar scene played out in Spokane last Wednesday.

Gonzaga students spent the night in tents on the quad in 20-degree weather and then filled the Kennel. Some had signs that said, “It’s a Dog Eat Dawg World.”

Gonzaga-UW has been dubbed Washington’s great cross-state basketball rivalry. Truth be told, it hadn’t felt like much of a rivalry for years before Wednesday’s night dramatic contest. The series was dormant until 2015, and since then Gonzaga had won three lopsided affairs.

But late in the second half last Wednesday, the Kennel was filled with nervous murmurs, and some fidgety fans even covered their faces with their hands when UW guard Jaylen Nowell stepped to the free-throw line with 9.4 seconds left.

“(Expletive),” one Gonzaga fan yelled after Nowell sank both shots to tie the game. “They better get this.”

They did.

Rui Hachimura inbounded the ball to Josh Perkins, who brought it up the court. From the top of the key, Perkins hooked the ball over his head with his right hand to pass back to Hachimura. With 0.6 seconds left, Hachimura rose over the outstretched hands of Sam Timmins to hit the winning shot — a midrange jumper from just inside the free-throw line.

After Dominic Green’s halfcourt heave fell short, the Zags walked away with an 81-79 victory to the sounds of the student section chanting Hachimura’s name. Gonzaga had beaten UW for the 12th time in their last 13 meetings.

For once, GU versus UW felt like a rivalry: Washington rallied from 11 points down, Hachimura delivered the game-winning heroics and the insane atmosphere inside the McCarthey Athletic Center all made for the right ingredients.

But this year’s drama was the exception, not the rule. This was the closest game between the two teams since Washington’s four-point win in Seattle in 2005.

“You have a lot of people here at Gonzaga that live in Seattle and things like that so that plays a factor in it,” says Zach Norvell Jr., who put up 14 points, six rebounds, seven assists and two steals against the Huskies. “They’re right down the, well, not right down the street, but they aren’t far. It’s always a big-time game.”

To some, like Norvell, geographical proximity is enough to make this is a rivalry. Not everyone agrees.

“I don’t really think we have rivals,” Mark Few said after the game. “It seems like everyone is our rival.”

He’s right. Over the last five years, GU has been pitted against a handful of challenging teams, including Washington, Arizona, North Carolina, Saint Mary’s and BYU.

“I think all of those, one time or another, can be true,” Few says. “I know we have certainly had some serious battles with Arizona over the years when we’re both kind of playing for the best in the West. Obviously, there have been some big games against Saint Mary’s, and sometimes BYU is big. I think when you’re our position, everyone is kind of gunning for you.”

No matter whether one chooses based on in-state location, regional designation or conference affiliation, Gonzaga doesn’t have a natural opponent like UNC-Duke, USC-UCLA or even UW and Washington State in football.

So who has the best case to be Gonzaga’s rival? I went through some options, including one that might come as a surprise, but is Gonzaga’s next opponent. The Zags play at North Carolina on Saturday, the first game since Gonzaga lost to Tennessee on a neutral court (and, in the process, its No. 1 ranking).

Arizona

As Few notes, the “rivalry” between Gonzaga and Arizona was founded on the basis of “best in the West.” Both teams have a history of earning high seeds and making deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. When they’ve squared off, the games are hard-fought and often memorable.

In second round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament, Arizona, which featured Channing Frye and Luke Walton, won in double overtime, 96-95. The teams next met in 2008, Arizona winning, 69-64, after going on a 7-2 run against the fourth-ranked Zags. In 2011, Gonzaga won, 71-60. For the Wildcats, this loss was part of a forgettable campaign that saw them go 23-12 and miss the tournament.

Before Gonzaga’s 91-74 win over Arizona in the Maui Invitational last month, the last time Gonzaga and Arizona went head-to-head was December 2016. That year marked the fourth straight season in which they faced off, with Arizona eking out a pair of wins by a combined eight points. Arizona also blew out Gonzaga in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, thanks in part to a season-high 21 turnovers by the Zags.

Given all those tight games and tournament matchups, if anyone has a case as Gonzaga’s top rival, it’s Arizona.

North Carolina

The Tar Heels’ case is weaker. They share a storied rivalry with Duke that easily trumps any other matchup. Yes, Gonzaga and North Carolina faced off in the 2017 national championship game, with the Heels preventing the Zags from claiming their first NCAA title in a 71-65 win.

Was the game good? Yes. Did the loss sting? Of course. But a good rivalry must consist of more than just one great game.

Saturday’s game is the first in a scheduled home-and-home that will have UNC heading to Gonzaga next seasons.

The in-conference options

Scoping out the West Coast Conference, Saint Mary’s and BYU are the obvious choices because they are the only WCC teams that can consistently challenge Gonzaga.

BYU has had some great moments against the Zags, namely ending their bid for a perfect regular season with a 79-71 victory in the last game of the 2016-17 season. The Zags and the Cougars faced each other in the WCC finals last season, but GU won by 20 points. BYU has not made the NCAA Tournament in the last three seasons, undercutting any potential rivalry with Gonzaga. The Cougars are also overshadowed by Saint Mary’s.

Saint Mary’s and GU have combined to win 19 of the last 23 conference championship games, including 17 of the last 19 and each of the last nine. The teams have met 98 times dating to 1955 and meet at least twice every season, with the possibility of a third matchup in the WCC tournament.

While that shared history is impressive, it’s also one-sided. GU leads the series, 68-30, and its dominance has only grown in recent years. Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s have played 13 times in the past four seasons, with the Zags going 10-3. What’s more, Saint Mary’s three wins came by a combined 11 points, while the Zags’ wins came by an average of 21.3 points.

Conclusion

Gonzaga has thoroughly dominated its WCC and in-state competition, and its biggest challenges come from out-of-state teams such as Arizona and UNC, which it doesn’t play every season. What does that say about Gonzaga and the state of its rivalries?

“We’re on the top, that’s what that says,” Perkins says.

Perkins isn’t entirely wrong. Top teams become targets, and underdogs might view them as rivals, even if Gonzaga doesn’t. And while Gonzaga can now rightly claim its spot at the top of the sport with the Arizonas and North Carolinas of the world, geographic proximity and conference affiliation make it difficult to sustain the series needed to build a true rivalry.

Ultimately, Gonzaga fans stand to benefit the most if a true rival can emerge. The Kennel Club isn’t camping out in freezing weather for the opportunity to watch redundant 20-point blowouts. They crave the nail-biting, heart-stopping competition that was on display against UW last week.

Until such a challenger emerges, fans will need to welcome each team at face value and just appreciate the play on the court rather than hyping up an opponent into something it isn’t and won’t be. That’s how the players see it.

“We are on top and a lot of people are chasing us,” Perkins says. “But they gotta run a little faster.”

(Photo: James Snook / USA Today)

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