Brian Dutcher reacts to San Diego State's long-awaited home-and-home with UCLA
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The San Diego State Aztecs have played the UCLA Bruins in basketball before, but not quite like this.
When the Aztecs officially announced their non-conference schedule ahead of their first season in the reborn Pac-12, the big surprise was a home-and-home series against the Bruins that starts this year with a game at venerable Pauley Pavilion in Westwood on Dec. 29. The Bruins will visit Viejas Arena next season.
“We've always tried to play the best teams that will play us, and sometimes that's a challenge,” coach Brian Dutcher said. “It's harder to get them to come to Viejas. We seem to be playing a lot of these games in neutral sites, which is just standard now. I am excited about the UCLA home-and-home to go to Pauley Pavilion this year and have them back a year from now.”
Why UCLA means so much to San Diego State
Of course, the Aztecs would have preferred to be playing the Bruins as members of the Pac-12 Conference. The Aztecs officially joined the rebuilt Pac-12 on July 1, but the Bruins have been in the Big Ten since 2024.
Nonetheless, this is a huge deal. The Bruins played at Viejas Arena during the pandemic season of 2020-21, when no fans were allowed in, with the Aztecs winning 73-58. UCLA also played at Viejas in an exhibition last season, winning 67-60. The teams have also played a number of closed-door scrimmages.
“I've been here for 26 years. It’s never, never, never and then we play them,” Dutcher said. “This is not an every year thing, but it's been that way with most of the old Pac-12. USC doesn't want to play anymore, but we played them. We played Cal. We played Washington. Just go through the old list of schools. We played UCLA.
“Coach Cronin did me a tremendous favor during COVID and came and played in an empty Viejas Arena, and so we've always scrimmaged them. He and I have a really good relationship. It finally made sense for them. ‘Listen, the way our schedule is this year, let's go ahead and play a home and home with San Diego State.’ I'm grateful for them wanting to do that and giving our home fans a year from now an opportunity to have a UCLA game here in this building.”
San Diego State has unfinished business in Los Angeles
SDSU hasn’t played at Pauley Pavilion since the 1990-91 season and is 0-10 in Los Angeles. The Aztecs have won the last two regular-season games against the Bruins, winning 78-69 in the 2012 John Wooden Classic in Anaheim and then in the 2020-21 season opener at Viejas Arena, before the empty stands due to the pandemic.
UNLV rivalry returns to the schedule
Most of SDSU’s preseason schedule had already leaked, including a home game against former Mountain West foe UNLV on Dec. 5.
Dutcher said after last season, the Aztecs’ final year in the Mountain West, that he’d like to keep playing some of the former conference rivals that don’t play at altitude.
“We have UNLV on the non-conference schedule, so we're starting a home and home with them at our place and then going to Las Vegas next year,” Dutcher said.
“New Mexico, the rivalry is incredible, but I hate traveling to Albuquerque and altitude is an issue. I've always said it is. I haven't run from it. It's hard to play at altitude. Now, we've gotten rid of Wyoming at 7000-plus feet, New Mexico and Air Force. Those are all the highest-altitude games.
“To play a non-conference game at altitude is something that I would really have to think long and hard on. Maybe in a neutral site somewhere, we could run across some of those teams in the conference. I would say our likelihood of playing a UNLV or San Jose State or something that's more at sea level or close to it would be a better fit for us.”
SDSU's season is right around the corner
The Aztecs have three exhibition games: at Arizona on Oct. 16, and then home against USC on Oct. 23 and Long Beach State on Oct. 28.
The season opener is Nov. 3 against Fullerton State at home.
The Pac-12 schedule hasn’t been released.
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Bernie Wilson recently retired from The Associated Press after nearly 41 years, including stops in Spokane, Los Angeles and, for the final 33 years, San Diego. He grew up in Coeur d'Alene and graduated from the University of Idaho.