SAN DIEGO - San Diego State men's basketball released the initial version of its 2023-24 Mountain West Conference schedule on Monday: the first phase of a two-part scheduling process. The schedule features 18-games (nine home and nine road games) with each team in the conference playing eight opponents twice (home-and-home) and two opponents once. For the Aztecs, league games are scheduled to begin on January 2 and wrap up on March 9.
National television partners, CBS Sports and Fox Sports, will shift some games from the current dates for broadcast purposes. All national television selections and date changes are expected to be completed by late-September or early October. Game times will be set once the broadcast networks finalize their selections.
League play is currently set to begin on Tuesday, January 2, with the Aztecs hosting Fresno State in Viejas Arena. SDSU holds a 41-20 home record against the Bulldogs, which includes an 8-5 mark at Steve Fisher Court. The Scarlet and Black are currently riding an eight-game win streak in the series and have not lost to Fresno State at home since the 2018-19 campaign. The Bulldogs did not play in America's Finest City last season.
After playing Fresno State, San Diego State wraps up an early two-game homestand against UNLV with a Saturday, January 6, meeting. San Diego State is 16-7 in its 23 meetings against the Rebels in Viejas Arena, and regardless of location is 21-2 in its last 23 games against UNLV. Other than a 66-63 win in VA on February 22, 2020, to snap the Aztecs 26-game win streak to start the 2019-20 season, UNLV has not won in San Diego since the 2012-13 campaign.
The Aztecs leave southern California for their first two league road games of the year on Tuesday, January 9 at San Jose State and Saturday, January 13 at New Mexico
San Diego State visits San Jose for just the second time since the start of the 2019-20 season. As a member of the Mountain West, SJSU has defended its home floor just once in seven games against SDSU. The average margin of victory for the Aztecs is 13.3 points and in its six wins at the Spartans' Event Center and the Scarlet and Black has never enjoyed a winning margin of less than 10 points there.
The Aztecs will be in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday, January 13, to play the New Mexico Lobos in The Pit. SDSU is just 13-30 in games played at New Mexico, but in its last two games there SDSU has come out on the winning end. On Jan. 29, 2020, it dismantled the Lobos, 85-57. San Diego State's 28-point victory is its largest in its 43 games against the Lobos in the Pit and the margin of victory was the largest for a New Mexico opponent in that building since a 30-point loss to Utah on January 21, 2002. Last season, San Diego State and specifically Lamont Butler, silenced the crowd of 15,431, the largest to witness a game in The Pit since 2009, on a last second-buzzer beating 3-pointer.
For its next seven games, SDSU alternates between home and road contests.
The run begins at home on Tuesday, January 16, against Nevada. With a 74-65 home win against the Wolf Pack last year, San Diego State is amid an 11-game win streak against Nevada in Viejas and has beaten UNR in nine of the last 10 meetings, regardless of location. On its home floor, SDSU is 13-1 all-time against the Wolf Pack, which includes a 11-1 mark in Viejas Arena.
The team then heads to Boise, Idaho to play Boise State on Saturday, January 20. On the Broncos home floor, San Diego State is 4-7 all time, including a six-point, 60-66, loss last season. It was the second of just two true road losses for SDSU in 2022-23. In their last six trips to the Broncos' Taco Bell Arena, the Aztecs are just 1-5, but four of those five losses have come by 10 points or less.
SDSU returns to Steve Fisher Court on Tuesday, January 23, for its only regular-season game of the campaign against Wyoming. It will be the 43rd meeting on the Aztecs home floor between the schools, with San Diego State leading 31-11 overall, and includes a 18-5 mark in Viejas. SDSU has won 15 in a row over the Cowboys in San Diego, which goes back to the 2007-08 season. The last matchup on The Mesa was a 67-50 win in last year's regular-season finale and marked the game in which the Aztecs secured the outright regular season title in the Mountain West.
Following the team's first of two byes, on Saturday, January 27, the team is in Fort Collins, Colo., to play the Colorado State Rams at Moby Arena on Tuesday, January 30. Moby Arena has not been particularly kind to the Aztecs who have a 15-27 record in the building but have four wins in their last five visits. That mark includes last year's six-point, 82-76, overtime win. In its last four wins in Moby, the margin of victory is 12.0 points and its lone loss over that span was a one-point defeat 57-58 in the 2021-22 campaign.
The first half of the league slate wraps up on Saturday, February 3 when the Aztecs host Utah State. In Viejas, SDSU holds a 9-1 advantage in the all-time series having won each of the last nine games on its home floor, which includes an 85-75 victory last season. That win marked the fourth win in a row in the series for the Aztecs, regardless of location.
The only matchup between San Diego State and Air Force in the 2023-24 regular season opens the second half of the schedule. The schools will meet at Clune Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Tuesday, February 6. SDSU, which is 24-17 all-time on the Falcons' home court, has won five of the last six at Air Force and overall has beaten the Academy in 11 of its last 12 meetings, including the last eight in a row. The last three matchups in Colorado Springs included a pair of Aztec blowouts, 98-61 and 91-59 on Jan. 22 & 24, 2021, 10-point, 70-60-win last season, and combined with an 89-74 win in the 2019-20 season, the current four-game win streak in Clune Arena is the longest in program history for consecutive wins at Air Force.
From Air Force, the team's next landing spot is Reno, Nevada, on Saturday, February 10 for a game at Lawlor Events Center against Nevada. San Diego State has won 12 of the last 14 games against the Wolf Pack regardless of location, including eight of the last nine meetings. In Reno, where SDSU has played its regular season finale in three of the last five years, the Aztecs are 7-6 overall, which includes a 6-5 record in Lawlor after last season's 66-75 loss, one of only two true road losses for San Diego State last season.
The Aztecs then are at home for back-to-back games starting on Tuesday, February 13 against Colorado State. SDSU is 31-14 against the Rams on its home floor, including a 20-4 record in Viejas and wins in 18 of its last 20 in San Diego. Last season SDSU swept its three games from CSU which included a 64-61 victory in the quarterfinal of the Mountain West tournament and a 77-58 victory in Viejas. Four of the Aztecs last five wins over the Rams in Viejas have been by double digits, including a 30-point destruction on January 8, 2020, which, over then No. 20 Colorado State, is its largest margin of victory against a nationally ranked school in program history.
The second game of the homestand has New Mexico in town on Saturday, February 17. The Aztecs hold a 15-8 record against the Lobos since the opening of Viejas Arena and a 28-14 advantage in the all-time series on San Diego State's home floor. Last season, New Mexico handed SDSU its only home loss of the season, 67-76. It snapped the team's three-game double digit home win streak against New Mexico. More than half of San Diego State's home wins against the Lobos in the Mountain West era have come by double digits.
SDSU returns to the road for its next game, in Logan, Utah for a Tuesday, February 20 meeting with Utah State. After its 63-61 win in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum last year, the Aztecs are 5-4 in the facility and snapped a three-game win streak for Utah State at home against San Diego State. SDSU has won each of its five games at Utah State by less than 10 points, but three of Utah State's four wins have come by double digits.
Fresno State's Save Mart Center is the location for the Aztecs next game, on Saturday, February 24 against the Bulldogs. Overall, San Diego State is 26-33 on the Bulldogs home floor, but has a 10-4 mark in Save Mart Center and has won the last five times the teams have played in the Central Valley. The Aztecs have won each of the eight meetings since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, regardless of location, and in the last five games in Fresno State's Save Mart Center, SDSU has defeated the Bulldogs by an average of 12 points.
SDSU is back in Viejas on Tuesday, February 27 for a game against San Jose State. San Diego State has never lost to SJSU in Viejas, holds a 32-8 lead in games played on SDSU's home floor, and regardless of location, has won the last 11 meetings between the programs. The last time the Aztecs fell to the Spartans at home was in the 1996-97 season, a game which was contested at the Sports Arena.
Following the team's second bye, on Saturday, March 2, the penultimate game of the regular season has the Aztecs traveling to Las Vegas to play UNLV on Tuesday, March 5. Since March 5, 2014, San Diego State is 13-1 in Thomas and Mack Center against the Runnin' Rebels, while the rest of the country is 47-99 in the facility. Since the start of the 2008-09 season, no Division I team has won more road games against a single opponent than San Diego State's 18 victories over UNLV at Thomas and Mack. Saint Mary's (at Loyola Marymount) is second with 14 wins and Vermont (vs. Hartford) is third with 13 wins.
The regular season wraps up at home on Saturday, March 9 against Boise State. Last year the Aztecs hammered the Broncos to the tune of 72-52 in Viejas. It was SDSU's sixth win in the last seven matchups against Boise at Steve Fisher Court. Since the Broncos joined the Mountain West prior to the 2011-12 school year, there have only been four games decided by 10 or more points between these two in Viejas. Three of those four games belong to SDSU and have come in the last five meetings in America's Finest City.
Fans interested in purchasing season tickets can place a deposit to get on the season ticket holder waiting list by going online at https://am.ticketmaster.com/sdsu/basketballdeposit or by calling the Aztec Ticket Office at (619) 283-7378. Waiting list deposits are $199 per seat and will apply to the purchase of your season tickets once you are offered seat locations.
Of the 352 Division I institutions which play men's basketball, San Diego State is one of 12 to have won at least 275 contests in the last 10 years and its 74.4 percent winning percentage (279-96) since the start of the 2012-13 season is the ninth highest among Division I schools.
San Diego State, which has reached the Mountain West tournament championship game in each of the last six years and has won two of the last three titles, returns Final Four hero Lamont Butler, fifth-year seniors Jaedon LeDee and Darrion Trammell, and four of its top six scorers from last year's team which reached the national championship game of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
In addition to the aforementioned players, San Diego State added transfers Jay Pal from Campbell and reigning Pac-12 Sixth Player of the Year Reese Waters from Southern California, and bring back junior Micah Parrish, sophomores Miles Byrd, Elijah Saunders and Demarshay Johnson Jr. The team also added freshmen BJ Davis, Miles Heide and Magoon Gwath.
SDSU's complete non-conference schedule will be announced at a later date.
2023-24 San Diego State Men's Basketball
Mountain West Schedule
Jan. 2 – FRESNO STATE
Jan. 6 – UNLV
Jan. 9 – at San Jose State
Jan. 13 – at New Mexico
Jan. 16 – NEVADA
Jan. 20 – at Boise State
Jan. 23 – WYOMING
Jan. 27 - bye
Jan. 30 – at Colorado State
Feb. 3 – UTAH STATE
Feb. 6 – at Air Force
Feb. 10 – at Nevada
Feb. 13 – COLORADO STATE
Feb. 17 – NEW MEXICO
Feb. 20 – at Utah State
Feb. 24 – at Fresno State
Feb. 27 – SAN JOSE STATE
March 2 - bye
March 5 – at UNLV
March 9 – BOISE STATE
Home games listed in ALL CAPS. Dates for some games will change in the second phase of the scheduling process.
Men’s Hoops' Initial 2023-24 MW Schedule Revealed
