It's official, Gonzaga men's basketball will meet college basketball powerhouse Kansas to tip its season!
The 'Zags and Jayhawks meet on November 26th in Fort Myers as part of a four-team tournament. The Bulldogs will meet Auburn the next day.
Here's the full press release:
FORT MYERS, Fla. –Gonzaga men's basketball will open its 2020-21 season against Kansas and Auburn in the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off in Ft. Myers, Fla., on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27.
FOX will carry the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off opener on Nov. 26 at 10:30 a.m. PT, featuring a top-10 tilt between Kansas, last year's No. 1 team in the final Associated Press poll, and Gonzaga, which was No. 2 in the final AP last year and widely considered one of the top teams heading into the 2020-21 season. The second day of the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off will begin at 8 a.m. PT on Nov. 27 with FOX broadcasting the Gonzaga-Auburn matchup.
Kansas is No. 7 in CBS Sports Top 25 and 1 preseason rankings, while the Zags are No. 1. The Jayhawks won the only other previous meeting between the programs, an 80-66 win at home in Lawrence on Nov. 13, 1998. KU was eighth in the country at the time.
Led by Preseason All-American Marcus Garrett, Kansas enters the 2020-21 campaign as a consensus top-10 program. The Jayhawks returned to the top of the Big 12 last season and finished the season as the No. 1 ranked team in the Associated Press poll. Head coach Bill Self enters his 18th season with the Jayhawks and owns a 501-109 record with the program. Kansas has made three Final Fours, claimed the 2008 NCAA Championship and has never been lower than a four seed in the NCAA Tournament under Self. In addition to Garrett, Kansas returns juniors Ochai Agbaji and David McCormack, who started 31 and 18 games, respectively, for the Jayhawks last season. KU's four newcomers include 2020 McDonald's All-American guard Bryce Thompson along with junior college All-American transfer Tyon Grant-Foster.
This will be the first-ever meeting between Gonzaga and Auburn. The Bulldogs are 15-9 all-time versus current members from the Southeastern Conference. GU has won eight of its last 10 meetings with an SEC opponent, including a 79-49 victory in its latest matchup with the league, at Texas A&M last season.
Auburn has recorded three straight seasons with 25 or more wins under Bruce Pearl, including a 30-win campaign in 2018-19 that saw the Tigers notch their first Final Four appearance in program history. Entering his seventh season with Auburn, Pearl returns a young roster and welcomes one of the top recruiting classes in the nation. Devan Cambridge, Jamal Johnson and Allen Flanigan each appeared in all 31 games for the Tigers last season, with Cambridge and Johnson leading the team in 3-point shooting percentage. Auburn's five-man recruiting class is comprised of highly touted players, including top-100 prospects Sharife Cooper, JT Thor and Justin Powell.
Due to social distancing restrictions inside the arena, an extremely limited number of fans will be able to attend the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off. There will be no public sale of tickets, but a small number of socially distanced pairs of tickets will be distributed. Fans interested in attending the event should submit a ticket request form at www.fortmyerstipoff.com/tickets. Fans will be contacted by a ticket representative on a first-come, first-served basis, based on the submission date of their ticket request form, for their opportunity to purchase tickets.
The health and safety of everyone involved in the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off is the event's top priority. Event organizers are regularly monitoring developments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and will implement safety measures based on prevailing guidelines from the Florida Department of Health and national health entities to help protect the health and safety all of players, coaches, fans and staff.