Ranking every San Diego State basketball non-conference game from toughest to easiest

Brian Dutcher’s team will play a challenging non-conference schedule before beginning their historic first season in the reborn Pac-12 Conference.

The good news is, the San Diego State Aztecs will have to leave California only once before league play begins, and that will be the short hop to Las Vegas for at least three games in the Players Era Festival.

Other than that, the Aztecs will play nine times in Viejas Arena - including exhibitions against USC on Oct. 23 and Long Beach State on Oct. 28.

Other games in Southern California will be their one true road game, a rare trip to UCLA, and three neutral-site games: against former league rival BYU in Palm Desert; against Colorado in the inaugural Bill Walton Classic at Pechanga Arena, which is one of SDSU’s former home courts; and against New Mexico State at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside in northern San Diego County.

“I’ve always been a regional guy. If I can play really good teams regionally, that’s what I want to do,” Dutcher said. “The farthest we go in the nonconference is Las Vegas. We don’t travel multiple time zones. We’re either in the state or in a neighboring state. I like that model.”

Perhaps the biggest test will be their first of three exhibition games, at Final Four participant Arizona on Oct. 16.

Here are San Diego State’s hardest non-conference games, ranked from hardest to easiest.

1. UCLA - Dec. 29 (Away)

The Aztecs will face teams that are ranked higher in the various “Way Too Early Top 25” polls, but history is definitely against the Aztecs in this one. The Bruins agreed to a home-and-home series that begins this season at iconic Pauley Pavilion in the penultimate game before the Aztecs launch their Pac-12 schedule.

While recent history favors the Aztecs - they beat the Bruins in the home opener in 2020-21 when fans weren’t allowed due to the pandemic, and in 2012 in the John Wooden Classic in Anaheim. But they’re 0-10 in Los Angeles and haven’t played at Pauley Pavilion since 1990-91.

UCLA returns its three top scorers from the team that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament and finished 24-12.

2. Iowa State - Nov. 24 (Players Era Festival)

The Cyclones are ranked No. 13 by CBS Sports and No. 24 by ESPN coming off a 29-8 season that included a trip to the Sweet 16. They return three of their top six scorers and made some big pickups in the transfer portal. ISU is 4-2 all-time against SDSU, including an 87-57 win in the fifth-place game at the 2018 Maui Invitational.

3. Tennessee or Maryland - Nov. 26 (Players Era Festival)

The Aztecs will have a day to rest up after the Iowa State game before they face the winner of the Tennessee-Maryland game.

Tennessee finished 25-12 last year when it reached the Elite Eight before being routed by eventual national champion Michigan – which routed SDSU in the Players Era Festival. The Volunteers are 3-0 all-time against the Tecs, including winning 59-62 in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament in Providence, R.I.

The Aztecs have never faced Maryland, which is coming off a 12-21 season that ended in the Big Ten Tournament.

4. Louisville, Oregon, St. John’s or Texas Tech - Nov. 27 (Players Era Festival)

This opponent will be determined by results from the first two days. SDSU has never played Louisville; is 4-4 against Oregon, including 1-1 in the Players Era; is 2-6 against Texas and beat St. John’s 76-64 in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament in Charlotte, N.C.

Louisville is ranked No. 8 by CBS Sports and No. 13 by ESPN after loading up in the portal following a 24-11 season in which it reached the second round of the NCAAs.

St. John’s is No. 7 in ESPN’s poll and No. 12 in CBS Sports’ poll after its stirring Sweet 16 run, fueled by a wild 67-65 second-round win against Kansas at Viejas Arena.

5. BYU - Dec. 19 (Acrisure Series)

The Aztecs will be coming off an eight-day break for finals when they face former league rival BYU in a one-off game at the Acrisure Series in Palm Desert. BYU is 51-26 all-time but SDSU is 4-1 on neutral courts and have won the last three such games, most recently a 92-87 double-overtime triumph in the 2014 Maui Invitational quarterfinals. BYU finished 23-12 last year after losing in the first round of the NCAAs.

6. Colorado - Nov. 7 (Bill Walton Classic)

The Aztecs will face the Buffaloes on a neutral court at Pechanga Arena in the inaugural Bill Walton Classic. The teams haven’t played each other since Jan. 5, 1976, when SDSU won 78-72 at Pechanga, which was then known as the Sports Arena. The teams split a six-game series between the 1970-71 and 1975-76 seasons. The Buffs are coming off a 17-16 season that included a 7-11 record in Big 12 play.

7. UNLV - Dec. 5 (Home)

They’re no longer league rivals but you know there will be emotion and a desire for bragging rights when SDSU of the Pac-12 hosts UNLV of the Mountain West. The Aztecs have a 46-40 advantage in the series, bolstered by a 21-14 showing at home, including 10-2 in the last 12 games at Viejas Arena. SDSU beat the Runnin’ Rebels twice last year, the last time in the MW for the Aztecs, and UNLV went 18-17 overall after reaching the NIT’s second round.

8. Long Island - Dec. 22 (Home)

The Sharks return to Viejas Arena nine months after losing 92-58 to top-seeded Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That completed a season in which LIU went 24-11, including 15-3 in the Northeastern Conference before winning the conference tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAAs.

In its previous regular-season visit to Viejas, the Sharks lost 81-64 during the 2019-20 campaign.

9. Cal State Fullerton - Nov. 3 (Home)

The Titans will be the opening night opponent, making their first visit to Viejas Arena since the 2023-24 season. SDSU leads the series 24-10 and has dominated in San Diego, going 15-4, including the last five by an average of 15-plus points. The Titans are coming off an 18-16 season that included a 12-8 performance in the Big West Conference.

10. New Mexico State - Nov. 15 (Frontwave Arena)

The Aztecs will travel some 40 miles up Interstate 5 to face the Aggies in a neutral-court game at Frontwave Arena, a 7,500-seat arena that’s home to a number of minor-league teams. SDSU is 5-3 all-time against NMSU, including a 73-69 overtime win in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament in Spokane that propelled the Aztecs to their second Sweet 16, where they lost to Arizona.

The Aggies were 16-16 last year, including 8-12 in the CUSA.

11. Bethune-Cookman - Nov. 11 (Home)

This will be the first meeting between the Aztecs and Wildcats, who won their first SWAC regular-season title at 14-4 before being upset by No. 8 seed Prairie View A&M in the conference tourney semifinals to finish 17-15.

12. Texas Southern - Nov. 18 (Home)

The Aztecs will look to go 5-0 against the Tigers, including 4-0 in San Diego. The Tigers also play in the SWAC, where they were 10-8 last year before losing their opening game in the conference tourney to finish 12-18 overall. The teams last met in the opener of the historic 2019-20 season, when the Aztecs won 77-42 at Viejas Arena to launch a 30-2 season that ended when COVID-19 shut down the sports world.

13. Montana State - Dec. 11 (Home)

The teams haven’t faced off since the Aztecs beat the Bobcats on March 11, 1941, in the opening game of the NAIA Tournament, which SDSU won. The Bobcats went 18-14 last year, including 12-6 in Big Sky play. Sam Scholl, who was an assistant on SDSU’s Final Four team in 2023, is a Bobcats assistant.

14. Life Pacific - Dec. 31 (Home)

Every once in a while, the Aztecs schedule a non-conference cupcake against a school that is so unknown that fans head to Google to find out where it's from. For instance, Saint Katherine has made the trek from up in northern San Diego County to Viejas Arena a few times, and then San Diego Christian drove over from Santee. This year it’s Life Pacific, a private school in San Dimas that will be the final tune-up for the Aztecs before they begin Pac-12 play.

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