Baylor, Gonzaga finalize deal to play opening night in marquee matchup to kick off 2024-25 season

College basketball has long struggled to focus on its product at the start of a new season, and for months, it looked as if opening night of the 2024-25 campaign might be the game's weakest yet. That is no longer the case as Baylor and Gonzaga have entered into the final stages of an agreement for the Monday, Nov. 4 game that is guaranteed to rev up the game's engine, sources tell CBS Sports.

The hypothetical preseason top 10 teams will meet at the Spokane Arena in downtown Spokane, Washington, opposite the McCarthy Athletic Center, a venue on the Gonzaga campus.

Two potential future Hall-of-Fame coaches.

Two winning programs in the past five seasons.

and a national title game rematch from three years ago.

That's quite a way to start the 2024-25 season.

Baylor and Gonzaga square off for the 2021 national championship inside the COVID-19 bubble in Indianapolis, with the Bears blitzing the Bulldogs 86-70 to win the program's first national title. The teams last met on December 2, 2022 in a 64-63 win by Baylor in South Dakota. BU held a 5-2 edge through the seven 1991 meetings.

Baylor's Scott Drew and Gonzaga's Mark Few are especially tight. The coaches have worked together over the past two months to secure a matchup that works for their programs while simultaneously serving as a boon for college basketball. They had previously explored Las Vegas and even Mexico as possible destinations for the game, sources told CBS Sports, but logistics led them to play in Gonzaga's home city.

Tip time and television network still-to-be-determined. CBS Sports first reported the potential matchup earlier this summer.

The Bears will enter the 2024-25 season at No. 7 Gary Parrish's best is 25 and 1The Zags lead by one spot.

While Duke's Cooper Flagg will be the most hyped freshman/player in the sport this season, Baylor freshman wing VJ Edgecomb could be just as dominant. Langston Love and Jayden Nunn bring in key transfers in Drew Norchad Omier (Miami) and Jeremy Roach (Duke) along with BU's key returners.

Big man Graham Ike and point guard Andrew Nembird are the most notable returnees from a Gonzaga squad that made the Sweet 16 for a ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

For Baylor, the season opener will begin the toughest week any team has faced in the first week of the season. The Bears will face Arkansas and new coach John Calipari four days later on Nov. 9 in Dallas.

Aside from Baylor-Gonzaga, though, opening night will be overshadowed by about 90 unlikely matchups, many of which will involve mid-major fodder hosting power-conference teams — games invariably ending in blowouts. Weak and slow starts have long been a problem for college basketball as many high-major coaches look to start the season with bye-games against opponents that look like easy wins.

Joining Baylor-Gonzaga as the next-most interesting game on opening night is Texas vs. Ohio State in Las Vegas.