Kennesaw State to face Gonzaga in NCAA Tournament

Owls, a No. 14 seed in West Region, will play in Portland in first round on Thursday.

Kennesaw State head coach Antoine Pettway reacts after an NCAA college basketball game against Georgia State at VyStar Arena, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Kennesaw. (Colin Hubbard for the AJC)

By AJC Sports

22 hours ago

Kennesaw State, the Conference USA champions, were selected as a No. 14 seed for the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, and it will face 3rd-seeded Gonzaga in the first round.

The Owls (21-13), who will play out of the West Region, are making their second NCAA tournament appearance in the last four seasons. In both appearances, they were a No. 14 seed.

They will take on the Bulldogs (30-3) at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, about 350 miles away from Gonzaga’s campus in Spokane, Washington.

Tip-off is scheduled for approximately 10 p.m. ET and will be televised on TBS.

Gonzaga will be making its 27th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 28th overall. The Bulldogs’ best finish came in the 2021 tournament, when they lost to Baylor in the national championship game, finishing with a 31-1 record.

The Owls captured their first Conference USA championship on Saturday with a 71-60 victory over Louisiana Tech in the championship game.

Kennesaw State’s only other NCAA Tournament appearance came in 2023, when it lost to No. 3 seed Xavier, 72-67, in the first round of the Midwest Region in Greensboro, NC.

This will be the first meeting between these two teams.

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