Two of the top teams in men's college basketball announced they will play this season in a blockbuster matchup. Baylor and Gonzaga, No. 1 and No. 3 in ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25, will face off this season, Baylor coach Scott Drew confirmed.
While the details of the game are uncertain due to the coronavirus pandemic, the two teams plan to stage a major matchup. Both Gonzaga and Baylor are legit national title contenders.
In recent weeks, Jared Butler and MaCio Teague announced their returns to Waco, Texas, a significant development for a Bears squad that will also add a recruiting class anchored by Kendall Brown, a top-25 prospect on ESPN.com.
Coach Mark Few's powerhouse Gonzaga program lost Filip Petrusev, who recently signed a pro contract overseas, but the returns of Corey Kispert and Joel Ayayi and the addition of talented five-star wing Jalen Suggs could add up to the first national title in the program's history.
"It's great for any sport whenever you can have potentially the top-two-ranked teams playing each other," Drew told ESPN.
Drew, Few and the rest of college basketball, however, must await the NCAA's mid-September announcement about the sport's official start date. Last week, Dan Gavitt, the NCAA's senior vice president of basketball, said the organization is prepared to move the start date, currently Nov. 10, due to the pandemic.
