SAN DIEGO – Brian Dutcher, San Diego State head men’s basketball coach, announced his team’s 2026-27 exhibition and non-conference slate on Monday, which consists of 17 games: 14 regular-season contests, 11 of which will be contested in southern California, preceded by three exhibitions.
The Scarlet and Black have six confirmed neutral site games, seven home matchups and one road game among its 14 non-conference contests, only leaving southern California for the Players Era MTE in Las Vegas.
SDSU commences its exhibition slate at McHale Center in Tucson, Arizona on Friday, October 16. Arizona posted a 36-3 overall record last year, won the Big 12 regular season and tournament, and reached the Final Four of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats lead the regular season series 26-7, which includes a 14-2 mark in Tucson, but in the last game at McHale Center, in the 2011-12 season, the Aztecs emerged victorious, 61-57. The most recent matchup came last year in a neutral site game in Phoenix that saw then No. 1-ranked Arizona pulled away in the second half for a 68-45 win.
In its second exhibition, a week later on Friday, October 23, at Steve Fisher Court, San Diego State will host Southern California. The Aztecs, which trail USC 11-3 in the regular season series, have only played the Trojans four times since the 1999-00 campaign. SDSU earned victories in two of those four contests, including a 56-54 win at Viejas Arena on a Xavier Thames bucket with 1.8 seconds to play and a 66-60 triumph in Los Angeles in which Jamaal Franklin and James Rahon each finished with 17 points.
The Aztecs wrap up their exhibition slate on Wednesday, October 28 at Viejas Arena against Long Beach State, which fell to the Scarlet and Black 77-45 in last year’s season opener. The Beach trail in the all-time regular season series 22-41, including a 10-23 mark in America’s Finest City, and has come up short in its last six games on the Aztecs’ home floor. Dating back to the 1980-81 campaign, SDSU has come out on the winning end in 17 of the last 18 regular season meetings, including victories in each of the last nine matchups, capped by last year’s 32-point win.
The 2026-27 regular season opens on Tuesday, November 3, with the Cal State Fullerton Titans on The Mesa for the first time since the 2023-24 campaign. The overall series record favors the Aztecs 24-10, with SDSU winning 15 of the 19 games (15-4) played in San Diego, including each of the last five by an average margin of 15-plus points. Last season, the Titans went 18-16, 12-8 in the Big West Conference and were eliminated in the semifinal of their conference tournament.
Four days later, on Saturday, November 7, the Aztecs play the Colorado Buffaloes at the inaugural Bill Walton Classic at San Diego’s Pechanga Arena, in what the NCAA considers a neutral site game. This will be the first game between the teams on a neutral floor. The last meeting between the programs was just short of 50 years ago (18,598 days), on January 5, 1976, in a 78-72 SDSU win at the then named Sports Arena. The series is tied 3-3, with each of the six matchups coming in a six-year span between the 1970-71 and 1975-76 seasons. In 2025-26, the Buffs went 17-16 overall, 7-11 in Big 12 play, and lost in the opening round of their conference tournament and the College Basketball Crown event.
The team returns to Viejas Arena for its next game, the inaugural meeting between San Diego State and the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats on Wednesday, November 11. This will be the first of two games between the Scarlet and Black and members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during the 2026-27 season. The Wildcats went 17-15 last season, including 14-4 in conference action and won their first SWAC regular-season title, but lost in the quarterfinal of the league tournament.
In its first appearance at Oceanside’s Frontwave Arena, considered a neutral site for this game, the Aztecs will play the New Mexico State Aggies on Sunday, November 15. This will be the second neutral site matchup in a series in which SDSU leads 5-3 all-time. The first neutral site contest, which also marks the last time the programs faced off, came in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament and resulted in a 73-69 overtime win at Spokane (Wash.) Arena. Xavier Thames led the team with 23 points and Josh Davis added 10 points and 14 rebounds.
The Texas Southern Tigers, which, like Bethune-Cookman, competes in the SWAC, will be next up for San Diego State. The Tigers will play the Aztecs at Viejas Arena on Wednesday, November 18, in what will be the fifth meeting of the series. SDSU has never lost to Texas Southern (4-0, including 3-0 in San Diego), which includes a 77-42 win in the 2019-20 season opener at Steve Fisher Court, the last time the team played. Malachi Flynn and Jordan Schakel led all scorers with 15 points, while Nathan Mensah and Keshad Johnson grabbed 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively. The Tigers were 12-18 last year, posted a 10-8 mark in league play, but lost in their opening game of the SWAC Tournament.
San Diego State takes the court next at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas at the third edition of Players Era, where it is guaranteed a minimum of three games, and depending on its performance, could earn a fourth. The team will face the Iowa State Cyclones on Tuesday, November 24 at 2:30 p.m. PT and then, after a day off, will play on Thursday, November 26 against either the Tennessee Volunteers or the Maryland Terrapins. The Aztecs third opponent, on Friday, November 27, will be based on the outcome of their first two games and will be either the Louisville Cardinals, Oregon Ducks, St. John’s Red Storm, or Texas Tech Red Raiders. If it qualifies as one of the top two teams after three games, SDSU would compete for the championship in a game on Saturday, November 28.
The Aztecs and Cyclones have met six times with Iowa State (ISU) holding a 4-2 advantage in the series. The teams have played once on a neutral floor, an 87-57 victory for Iowa State in the fifth-place game at the 2018 Maui Invitational. SDSU has three players in double figures: Jalen McDaniels and Jeremy Hemsley each had 10 points and Matt Mitchell led the team with 14. The Cyclones posted a 29-8 record in 2025-26, were 12-6 in the Big 12, reached the semifinal of the league’s tournament and the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
If SDSU’s next opponent is Tennessee, it will play a team it has not beaten in three tries (0-3), which includes one neutral court game, the last time the teams played, a 59-62 defeat in Providence, R.I., in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. With 16 points, D.J. Gay led three Aztecs with double figures in the scoring column. The Volunteers finished last season in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, with a 25-12 record, including 11-7 in the SEC and a spot in the conference tournament’s quarterfinal. If the Aztecs’ opponent is Maryland, it will be the first meeting between the programs. The Terps went 12-21 last season, 4-16 in the Big Ten, and ended their season after two games in their league’s tournament.
In its third game at Players Era, the Scarlet and Black will play one of four teams: Louisville, which it has never met; Oregon, which it has split eight games with (4-4); St. John’s which it defeated in its lone matchup, or Texas Tech, which has defeated SDSU in six of the eight all-time meetings (6-2). On neutral courts, San Diego State is 1-1 in Players Era against Oregon, downing the Ducks 97-80 in last year’s event, and 1-2 overall. The Scarlet and Black’s lone contests against St. John’s came in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament in Charlotte, N.C., and saw SDSU emerge with a 76-64 win behind 18 points from JJ O’Brien.
The team returns to Steve Fisher Court to open December with a quick two-game homestand, starting on Saturday, December 5, against former conference foe UNLV. The game will be the first meeting as non-conference opponents since the 1992-93 season. SDSU leads the series 46-40 overall, and 21-14 at home, including a 10-2 mark in the last 12 games at Viejas Arena. In 2025-26, the Rebels lost twice to the Aztecs and went 18-17 overall. They went 11-9 in the Mountain West, were bounced from the conference tournament in the quarterfinal, and reached the second round of the NIT.
The homestand concludes on Friday, December 11, with The Aztecs’ second all-time game against the Montana State Bobcats. The teams faced off on March 11, 1941, in Kansas City, Mo., in the opening game at that year’s NAIA Tournament. The Aztecs, led by SDSU Hall of Fame guard Milton “Milky” Phelps, won the game enroute to claiming the national championship. The Bobcats compete in the Big Sky Conference and were 18-14 last year, including 12-6 in league play, and lost their opening game at their conference tournament. Former San Diego State assistant Sam Scholl, who was on the bench for the Aztecs run to the 2023 national championship game is currently an assistant with the Bobcats program.
After an eight-day hiatus for finals, San Diego State returns to action on Saturday, December 19 at 7:30 p.m. PT in Palm Desert, Calif., in a one-off neutral site game at the Acrisure Series against the Brigham Young Cougars. The Cougars hold a 51-26 advantage in the all-time series, but the Aztecs lead 4-1 in neutral site contests and have defeated Brigham Young in their last three neutral court games including, most recently, a 92-87, two-overtime win in the quarterfinal of the 2014 Maui Invitational where Aqeel Quinn dropped a team-high 22 points. The Cougars went 23-12 last year, including 9-9 in the Big 12, reached the quarterfinal of the conference tournament and lost their first game at the NCAA Tournament.
Three days later, on Tuesday, December 22, LIU will return to The Mesa for its second appearance at Steve Fisher Court and the second game in the series. Matt Mitchell, who went 8-of-12 from the field and finished with a game-high 18 points, led the Aztecs to an 81-64 victory over the Sharks in the 2019-20 season. Last year, LIU posted a 24-11 record and went 15-3 in the Northeastern Conference, won its conference tournament to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, but fell to Arizona in its opening round game.
The team heads north to play at UCLA on Tuesday, December 29, in its penultimate non-conference game. SDSU has never defeated the Bruins in Los Angeles (0-10) but have not played at Pauley Pavilion since the 1990-91 season. In the last two matchups the Aztecs have downed UCLA: 78-69 at the 2012 John Wooden Classic in Anaheim and 73-58 in the 2020-21 season opener at Viejas Arena.
San Diego State will put a ribbon on the 2026-27 non-conference slate on Thursday, December 31, with a non-Division I game against the Life Pacific Warriors. Life Pacific, which is in San Dimas, Calif., is an NAIA program that competes in the Great Southwest Athletic Conference (GSAC). The Warriors posted a 13-15 record last year, including a 4-12 mark in the GSAC.
For information on 2026-27 season tickets and single-game options please visit https://goaztecs.com/tickets/mensbasketball or contact the Aztec Athletics Ticket Office at 619-283-7378 or via email at aztix@sdsu.edu.
San Diego State Men’s Basketball
2026-27 Non-Conference Schedule
Oct. 16 – +at Arizona
Oct. 23 – +SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Oct. 28 – +LONG BEACH STATE
Nov. 3 – CAL STATE FULLERTON
Nov. 7 – #vs. Colorado
Nov. 11 – BETHUNE-COOKMAN
Nov. 15 – !vs. New Mexico State
Nov. 18 – TEXAS SOUTHERN
Nov. 24 – ^vs. Iowa State
Nov. 26 – ^vs. Tennessee/Maryland
Nov. 27 – ^vs. Louisville/Oregon/St. John’s/Texas Tech
Nov. 28 - ^vs. TBD (if necessary)
Dec. 5 – UNLV
Dec. 11 – MONTANA STATE
Dec. 19 – $vs. Brigham Young
Dec. 22 – LIU
Dec. 29 – at UCLA
Dec. 31 – LIFE PACIFIC
Note: Home games are listed in ALL CAPS
+ - exhibition; # - Bill Walton Classic (San Diego, Calif.); ! – Compete $ Cause Classic (Oceanside, Calif.); ^ - Players Era (Las Vegas, Nev.); $ - Acrisure Series (Palm Desert, Calif.)