Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Texas Southern on November 2, 2026 at 7 p.m.
M Basketball
7 p.m.
vs Texas Southern
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Acrisure Series pits GCU vs. touted Saint Louis
8/6/2026 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes will face Stanford or Colorado in Palm Desert event's 2nd game
After Grand Canyon and Saint Louis held home court against each other the past two seasons, they will head to the Coachella Valley this season to settle the score.
GCU's Acrisure Series schedule was revealed Thursday with the Lopes opening their third consecutive trip to Palm Desert, California, with another high-quality game. GCU will face Saint Louis, a potential preseason top-25 team, in a Nov. 24 game at 6:30 p.m. in Acrisure Arena.
The winner of that 6:30 p.m. game will face the nightcap winner of Stanford-Colorado in the 6:30 p.m. championship game on Nov. 25, when the pod's losing teams will meet for a 9 p.m. third-place game. Both of GCU's games in the series will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.
The anticipation of the Lopes' season is matched for excitement in Saint Louis, where Billikens third-year head coach Josh Schertz returns nine players from a team that set a program record for victories and won its first NCAA Tournament game in 12 years.
Saint Louis went 29-6 last season and won the Atlantic 10 regular-season title with a 15-3 conference mark. The Billikens cracked the top 25 for the first time since the 2010-11 season and ascended as high as No. 18 in the nation.
Although Schertz loses his top two scorers, five other Billikens return after posting scoring averages between 9.1 and 10.7 points per game for the nation's 10th-highest scoring team. Saint Louis averaged 87.2 points per game by ranking fifth nationally for field goal percentage (51.0%) and third for 3-point percentage (39.6%).
The Billikens dominated No. 8 seed Georgia 102-77 in the NCAA Tournament first round before losing to eventual national champion Michigan. They have a returning trio of A-10 postseason honorees in 6-foot junior guard Trey Green, 6-6 junior guard Amari McCottry and 6-6 senior guard Kellen Thames.
Saint Louis also returns senior guard Quentin Jones and junior wing Ishan Sharma and fortified its frontcourt in the transfer portal with 6-9 Elijah Strong (10.0 points per game at South Carolina), 6-9 Alon Michaeli (7.1 points per game off the bench at Colorado) and 6-11 Sheek Pearson from Marquette (redshirted freshman season).
In a home-and-home series, GCU defeated Saint Louis 73-72 at home in December 2024 but lost 78-64 in November of last season at Saint Louis.
The Lopes could have a familiar Acrisure Arena opponent in the second game if it proves to be Stanford. The Lopes defeated the Cardinal 78-71 in November 2024 at the Acrisure Holiday Invitational.
Stanford has reached 20 wins in each of the first two seasons under head coach Kyle Smith, who previously posted multiple 20-wins seasons at each of three previous head coach stops (Columbia, San Francisco and Washington State).
The Cardinal lost its top five scorers, including guard Ebeka Okorie, who was drafted 17th overall by the Detroit Pistons after averaging 23.2 points as a freshman.
Aidan Cammann, a 6-10 junior, is the top returning scorer (6.5 points per game) and rebounds (3.8 boards per game) but Smith added a top-20 freshman class, headlined by 6-7 swingman Aziz Olajuwon, the son of Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon. Stanford's transfer class included 7-foot junior center Austin Maurer, who played for GCU in 2024-25 and averaged 7.2 points and 4.7 rebounds last season at Seattle.
Stanford's roster includes a Valley product, Notre Dame Prep guard Anthony Batson Jr.
GCU could also play Colorado for its second Acrisure Series game. The Lopes have not played the Buffaloes since 2020, when Colorado won 74-64 in Las Vegas.
Buffaloes 17th-year head coach Tad Boyle (329-220) lost four of his top five scorers from last season, but kept the key one – 6-1 senior point guard Barrington Hargress. He averaged 14.7 points and 4.5 assists per game last season with the Big 12's best shooting percentage for a guard at 53.1%. He made 48.1% of his 3-point tries.
Boyle will try to form his seventh NCAA Tournament qualifier with the help of two fifth-year forward transfers. At 6-5, Justin Neely averaged 17.9 points and 11.5 rebounds for UNC Greensboro last season. At 6-10, Noah Fedderson helped North Dakota State reach the NCAA tournament with averages of 9.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game.
Colorado also includes a Phoenix player with freshman Rider Portela, a Sunnyslope graduate.
GCU will be one of 26 teams at the 26-game event from Nov. 21 to Nov. 26 at Acrisure Arena. Tickets will go on sale Aug. 8 at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster. Last season, the Lopes defeated Utah 68-58 in the Acrisure Series before losing to Elite Eight qualifier Iowa 59-46. Two seasons ago, GCU defeated Stanford 78-71 in the Acrisure Holiday Invitational.
"The Acrisure Series has become one of the premier events in college basketball, and we believe this year's field is the strongest we've assembled," Total Sports Consulting president and co-tournament director Dan Shell said.
GCU's Acrisure Series schedule was revealed Thursday with the Lopes opening their third consecutive trip to Palm Desert, California, with another high-quality game. GCU will face Saint Louis, a potential preseason top-25 team, in a Nov. 24 game at 6:30 p.m. in Acrisure Arena.
The winner of that 6:30 p.m. game will face the nightcap winner of Stanford-Colorado in the 6:30 p.m. championship game on Nov. 25, when the pod's losing teams will meet for a 9 p.m. third-place game. Both of GCU's games in the series will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.
The anticipation of the Lopes' season is matched for excitement in Saint Louis, where Billikens third-year head coach Josh Schertz returns nine players from a team that set a program record for victories and won its first NCAA Tournament game in 12 years.
Saint Louis went 29-6 last season and won the Atlantic 10 regular-season title with a 15-3 conference mark. The Billikens cracked the top 25 for the first time since the 2010-11 season and ascended as high as No. 18 in the nation.
Although Schertz loses his top two scorers, five other Billikens return after posting scoring averages between 9.1 and 10.7 points per game for the nation's 10th-highest scoring team. Saint Louis averaged 87.2 points per game by ranking fifth nationally for field goal percentage (51.0%) and third for 3-point percentage (39.6%).
The Billikens dominated No. 8 seed Georgia 102-77 in the NCAA Tournament first round before losing to eventual national champion Michigan. They have a returning trio of A-10 postseason honorees in 6-foot junior guard Trey Green, 6-6 junior guard Amari McCottry and 6-6 senior guard Kellen Thames.
Saint Louis also returns senior guard Quentin Jones and junior wing Ishan Sharma and fortified its frontcourt in the transfer portal with 6-9 Elijah Strong (10.0 points per game at South Carolina), 6-9 Alon Michaeli (7.1 points per game off the bench at Colorado) and 6-11 Sheek Pearson from Marquette (redshirted freshman season).
In a home-and-home series, GCU defeated Saint Louis 73-72 at home in December 2024 but lost 78-64 in November of last season at Saint Louis.
The Lopes could have a familiar Acrisure Arena opponent in the second game if it proves to be Stanford. The Lopes defeated the Cardinal 78-71 in November 2024 at the Acrisure Holiday Invitational.
Stanford has reached 20 wins in each of the first two seasons under head coach Kyle Smith, who previously posted multiple 20-wins seasons at each of three previous head coach stops (Columbia, San Francisco and Washington State).
The Cardinal lost its top five scorers, including guard Ebeka Okorie, who was drafted 17th overall by the Detroit Pistons after averaging 23.2 points as a freshman.
Aidan Cammann, a 6-10 junior, is the top returning scorer (6.5 points per game) and rebounds (3.8 boards per game) but Smith added a top-20 freshman class, headlined by 6-7 swingman Aziz Olajuwon, the son of Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon. Stanford's transfer class included 7-foot junior center Austin Maurer, who played for GCU in 2024-25 and averaged 7.2 points and 4.7 rebounds last season at Seattle.
Stanford's roster includes a Valley product, Notre Dame Prep guard Anthony Batson Jr.
GCU could also play Colorado for its second Acrisure Series game. The Lopes have not played the Buffaloes since 2020, when Colorado won 74-64 in Las Vegas.
Buffaloes 17th-year head coach Tad Boyle (329-220) lost four of his top five scorers from last season, but kept the key one – 6-1 senior point guard Barrington Hargress. He averaged 14.7 points and 4.5 assists per game last season with the Big 12's best shooting percentage for a guard at 53.1%. He made 48.1% of his 3-point tries.
Boyle will try to form his seventh NCAA Tournament qualifier with the help of two fifth-year forward transfers. At 6-5, Justin Neely averaged 17.9 points and 11.5 rebounds for UNC Greensboro last season. At 6-10, Noah Fedderson helped North Dakota State reach the NCAA tournament with averages of 9.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game.
Colorado also includes a Phoenix player with freshman Rider Portela, a Sunnyslope graduate.
GCU will be one of 26 teams at the 26-game event from Nov. 21 to Nov. 26 at Acrisure Arena. Tickets will go on sale Aug. 8 at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster. Last season, the Lopes defeated Utah 68-58 in the Acrisure Series before losing to Elite Eight qualifier Iowa 59-46. Two seasons ago, GCU defeated Stanford 78-71 in the Acrisure Holiday Invitational.
"The Acrisure Series has become one of the premier events in college basketball, and we believe this year's field is the strongest we've assembled," Total Sports Consulting president and co-tournament director Dan Shell said.
Thursday, September 17
Wednesday, September 09
Monday, September 07
Friday, August 07