Gonzaga and Kentucky differ slightly on interpretation of neutral site matchup

The Gonzaga Bulldogs 2022-23 schedule is officially official, with the team revealing the full slate on Tuesday.

The final addition to the schedule is a game against NAIA opponent Eastern Oregon, scheduled for December 28 at The Kennel. A full look at Gonzaga’s non-conference schedule can be found here:

Outside of the Eastern Oregon addition, the schedule looked as expected. A true road game against Texas and premier neutral site contests against Michigan State, Alabama, Baylor and whichever opponents they end up facing in the PK85.

They also marked the game against Kentucky as a neutral site game, sticking with the rules that home = home arena, and road = opposing team’s home arena. It’s an industry standard, but John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats haven’t always ascribed to those – and that was made very clear by the decision by Kentucky to label this a road game.

The Gonzaga-Kentucky game being played at the Spokane Arena, rather than Gonzaga’s home court on campus, was a big talking point earlier in the summer when these two staffs got together and put this game on the calendar. Few immediately agreed to a return game at Rupp Arena, while Cal eventually posted a twitter thread bizarrely defending the decision by saying, “Anyone who wants us to play in a 6,000 seat facility, wants us to lose.”

The difference in how these two teams present this game is ultimately meaningless, although it continues to stoke the fire between the two fanbases with still six weeks to go until the game is set to tip-off.

College basketball is back y’all.

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