What Sean Lewis said about San Diego State joining the Pac-12

The Aztecs head coach discussed the Pac-12, College Football Playoff hopes and what lies ahead this fall

San Diego State Aztecs football coach Sean Lewis. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

The San Diego State Aztecs football team is less than two weeks away from the start of fall camp, which will lead to the most pivotal season in school history. 

The Aztecs are officially a member of the reborn Pac-12 Conference, jumping from the Mountain West along with Boise State, Colorado State, Utah State and Fresno State. They’ve joined up with legacy members Washington State and Oregon State, and fellow newcomer Texas State. 

SDSU and its fans have long wanted to be in the Pac-12. Although the dream of being in the same conference with USC and UCLA didn’t come about, it’s still a step up in prestige for the Aztecs. 

“It’s historic, right?” third-year coach Sean Lewis told NBC 7 recently. “I mean, July 1, 2026, for it to happen, and for us to be in the Pac-12, whether it be revamped or whatever you want to call it, it’s still going to be one of the top five conferences in all of college football. And so the teams that have joined, and the leadership that we have, both here at the university, and within the conference, we couldn’t be more excited about it, and the energy's at an all-time high for our guys.”

Camp opens on Aug. 5, and the regular season starts at Snapdragon Stadium exactly one month later against Portland State of the Big Sky Conference. Oct. 3 will be a red-letter day when the Aztecs host Texas State in the first Pac-12 game for both schools. 

What else Lewis said

Lewis touched on a number of topics in the NBC 7 interview. One of them is where the Aztecs and the Pac-12 will fit into the race for spots in the College Football Playoff. The Pac-12 is not considered a Power conference but is in the Group of 6 with Conference USA, the American, MAC, Sun Belt and the Mountain West.

The Group of 6’s automatic bid to the CFP will go to the school with the highest-ranked team in the final rankings. 

“We’re going to be positioned great. I feel really strongly again about the leadership that we have, and then when you get to the end of the year, and the Pac-12 champion is going to be in that conversation for one of the 12 best teams in the country, and there's gonna be a very clear path to be in that tournament and go make some noise,” Lewis told the TV station.

Lewis also talked about the competition of the league, where most of the teams have played each other in recent seasons. 

The Aztecs will prep for the initial Pac-12 campaign with a road game against UCLA on Sept. 12 and a home game on Sept. 19 against James Madison, which reached the CFP last year under qualifications that have since changed. 

“It’s going to be elite, right?,” Lewis told NBC 7 about league play. “You go through the schedule, and you look at the coaching and the players, I mean, there is no like, ‘I’ll circle this one and you gotta win.’ You’ve got to go earn it each and every week which is really, really exciting.

“And again, you look at just the past five years, our win-loss records of all the teams that have joined, the exposure that we've had, and you put that against, you know, the other top conferences in all of college football, this Pac-12 will be one of the top five conferences in all of college football.”

The highlight of the conference season almost certainly will be the game at Boise State on Nov. 21. Many prognosticators have picked BSU and SDSU to go 1-2 in the new-look league.