SAN DIEGO - San Diego State men's basketball released the initial version of its Mountain West Conference schedule for the 2021-22 campaign on Friday: the first phase in the scheduling process. After a year in which teams were scheduled to play two-game series at home against half the league and on the road against the other half, for a total of 20 contests, the format has reverted to 18-games (nine home and nine road games) with each team playing eight opponents twice (home-and-home) and two opponents once. For the Aztecs, league games begin on Jan. 1 and wrap up on March 5.
National television partners, CBS Sports and Fox Sports, will shift some games from the current dates to others for broadcast purposes. All national television selections and date changes are expected to be completed by late August or early September. Game times will be set once the broadcast networks finalize their selections.
League play begins on Dec. 28, but not for the Aztecs who have a bye for the first game of the schedule. San Diego State kicks things off on New Year's Day (Saturday, Jan. 1) in Las Vegas against UNLV, a team SDSU is 17-2 against in its last 19 meetings, regardless of location. The team then returns home for a pair of games; Tuesday, Jan. 4, vs. Fresno State and Saturday, Jan. 8, against Nevada. San Diego State is 40-20 all-time at home against the Bulldogs and 9-0 against the Wolf Pack in Viejas in the Mountain West era (11-1 all-time at home).
SDSU then heads back on the road for games on Tuesday, Jan. 11, and Saturday Jan. 15. On the 11th the Aztecs are in Laramie, Wyo., for its only regular season meeting between the programs. The Aztecs did not play at Wyoming last season, and is 6-2 in its last eight games in Laramie. Four days later, the team is in Albuquerque, N.M., to play the Lobos. It will be the first meeting between the programs since the 2019-20 season. New Mexico forfeited both games last season after opting out of the series. San Diego State's 28-point victory (85-57 on Jan. 29, 2020), in its most recent game at UNM, is SDSU's largest in The Pit in 42 all-time games there.
Seventeen days after opening its conference slate at UNLV, the teams will renew the rivalry in Viejas Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 18. The Aztecs are 6-1 in its last seven games against the Rebels on The Mesa, but that one loss (Feb. 22, 2020) halted SDSU's 342-day streak without a defeat and snapped the team's 26-game winning streak to open the 2019-20 season. Four days later, on Saturday, Jan. 22, Boise State, which was swept in Viejas last year and is 2-7 all-time in America's Finest City, is in town for its first matchup of the year against the Aztecs.
Logan, Utah is the team's next destination, and the opponent is Utah State on Tuesday, Jan. 25. San Diego State is 4-3 at USU in the Mountain West era, but last year suffered back-to-back losses there. It was the first time since March 6 & 9, 2019 (a total of 48 games) that the Aztecs were beaten in consecutive games.
The team's second bye comes on Saturday, Jan. 29.
The first half of the Aztecs conference schedule and the team's regular-season series against New Mexico wraps up on Tuesday, Feb. 1 in Viejas Arena, where SDSU is 6-1 in its last seven against the Lobos.
The back half of the MW schedule opens with back-to-back road games. On Saturday, Feb. 5, San Diego State is at Colorado State and then at San Jose State on Tuesday, Feb. 8. In its last 15 games in Fort Collins, the Aztecs are 14-1 and the last two times the Rams have lost by double-digits at home was at the hands of San Diego State. The trip to San Jose will be the team's first since Feb. 2, 2019. The Aztecs are 5-1 in its last six games in The Event Center and 8-4 in its last 12 in that arena.
The team is back home on Saturday, Feb. 12 for its lone regular season meeting with Air Force and then welcomes Utah State to The Mesa on Tuesday, Feb. 15. The Falcons are just 6-33 in San Diego, and have lost the last 14 games dating back to Feb. 28, 2005. Utah State has split the last four Mountain West Tournament titles with the Aztecs and returns to Viejas Arena where SDSU is 7-0 against them since the Aggies joined the league in 2013-14. The last time these teams met in San Diego, on Feb. 1, 2020, the Aztecs overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to defeat USU 80-68 on the night Kawhi Leonard's jersey was retired.
The final five contests feature three games on the road and two at home.
On Saturday, Feb. 19, the Aztecs are in Fresno to take on the Bulldogs. SDSU is 8-4 in the Save Mart Center, but dating back to 1941, just 24-33 all-time in the central valley. Following that game, the team heads to Boise, Idaho for a meeting with the Broncos on Tuesday, Feb. 22. In its last game in Boise, on Feb. 16, 2020, San Diego State snapped a three-game slide in ExtraMile Arena and has an all-time record of 4-5 in that facility.
The last home stand features San Jose State on Saturday, Feb. 26 and then Senior Night on Tuesday, March 1, against Colorado State. San Diego State is 30-8 overall at home against the Spartans, including 10-1 in the last 11 Viejas Arena matchups. The Aztecs are 18-4 against the Rams in Viejas and have won six of the last seven at home.
The regular-season finale will be played on the road for the fourth consecutive season and for the fifth time in the last seven seasons, not including last year's "COVID schedule", the opponent will be Nevada. The teams will meet on Saturday, March 5 and it will also be the third straight year, not including last season's "COVID schedule," that the Aztecs are ending the regular season in Reno, Nev. SDSU is 6-5 all-time at UNR.
The Aztecs will not travel to Air Force or host Wyoming in 2021-22.
In addition to the Mountain West Conference schedule, San Diego State recently announced its participation in the 2021 Paycom Wooden Legacy at the Anaheim Arena at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. The Aztecs open the event against the Georgetown Hoyas at 8:30 p.m. (PT) on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 25, with the contest being broadcast nationally on ESPN2. The next day, Friday, Nov. 26, SDSU will play either Southern California or Saint Joseph's at either 6 or 8:30 p.m. (PT).
A limited number of season tickets for games in Viejas Arena are currently on sale. Available for purchase are bench reserve seating and a limited number of chair backs, starting at $199 per season ticket. San Diego State faculty and staff can purchase ticket packages at a discount and student admission is free. Fans interested in purchasing season tickets can do so online at https://www.GoAztecs.com/MBBSeasonTix or by calling the Aztec Ticket Office at (619) 283-7378.
In 2020-21, San Diego State won its conference-leading 14th Mountain West championship, its eighth of the regular season and sixth tournament title, finished the regular season with a 23-4 record and earned a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Of the 350 Division I institutions which play men's basketball, San Diego State is one of 12 to have won at least 250 contests in the last 10 years and its 75.7 percent winning percentage (284-91) since the start of the 2010-11 season is the ninth highest among Division I schools.
The Aztecs return starters Nathan Mensah and Trey Pulliam, both All-Mountain West honorees, as well as significant contributors Lamont Butler, Keshad Johnson, Adam Seiko and Joshua Tomaic. San Diego State has added transfers Chad Baker-Mazara, two-time All-Pac-12 performer Matt Bradley and Tahirou Diabate, as well as incoming freshman Demarshay Johnson Jr., for the 2021-22 season. Jaedon LeDee, who has also transferred to SDSU, will spend the upcoming year as a redshirt and will compete for the Aztecs starting in the 2022-23 school year.
SDSU's complete non-conference schedule will be announced at a later date.
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