San Diego State better served by being in NIT?

We all know that when one door slams in your face, maybe the next open door will turn out to be much better than it appears.

Take the San Diego State basketball team, for instance.

Two weeks ago, who would’ve thought that being in the NIT would be better for the Aztecs than making the NCAA Tournament?

Not I.

But as it turns out, the NIT has been much more than a consolation prize.

Don’t you think that making the NIT Final Four serves SDSU better than a first-round loss in the NCAAs would have?

(Sure, you could make the argument that the Aztecs would have won a game in the NCAAs. But that would have been a first.)

Take what coach Steve Fisher told the media before the Aztecs departed for the NIT Final Four in New York with more than a grain of salt.

“I’ll be the first to say that if we made the NCAA Tournament, we might still be playing. I really thought we could win at least two games and make the Sweet 16. I wouldn't have been at all surprised. But it's a thrill to get to New York and Madison Square Garden. We're better served to be where we are now than had we lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. We'll get more mileage out of this.”

That they will.

If the Aztecs win the NIT, it will be the school’s first national title since the 1973 men’s volleyball team.

That, alone, makes the NIT more than worthwhile.

Sports enthusiasts: Being nice has its rewards

Being kind and thoughtful has its advantages.

Just take the relationship between San Diego State University and the University of San Diego, for example.

Thanks to the generosity of USD, an SDSU sports enthusiast will now be able to watch the Aztecs play a “home” game in the second round of the NIT on Friday night at USD’s Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Two years ago, USD was in a similar bind. The Toreros were hosting a four-team regional in the NCAA Baseball Tournament but couldn’t play at home because they do not have lights.

USD thus turned to SDSU, which allowed the Toreros to play their “home” games at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

Lesson learned: Never expect a favor to be returned when you do a favor.

However, if you do someone a favor, you have a much greater chance of them returning the niceness.

San Diego State hoops needs big-time wins

San Diego State needs to beat someone of significance if it hopes to receive an NCAA Tournament bid in men’s basketball this season.

The Aztecs may be off to a 13-5 start, but they have yet to post a win to get them over the hump when tournament selection time comes.

SDSU has faced three certain NCAA participants thus far – Arizona State, Arizona and Saint Mary’s. The Aztecs lost to all three.

Of the 13 wins, Utah has been the biggest-named opponent. And the Utes are no certain bet for the NCAAs.

Coach Steve Fisher has done a good job in his near-decade on Montezuma Mesa in turning the Aztecs from a horrible to middle-of-the-pack team. The program is good enough to make the NIT just about every year; yet you can only count on an NCAA berth (and loss) about once every five years.

Unless the Aztecs win the Mountain West Conference’s automatic NCAA bid this year, it’s going to be the same old thing:

Play in the NIT and hope for the best.

Brady Hoke needs to produce within three years

Brady Hoke is the first tough-talking football coach at San Diego State since Al Luginbill in the late 1980s and early ‘90s.

On the field, Hoke will need to have tougher teams than Luginbill.

Despite having Marshall Faulk and Darnay Scott in back-to-back seasons, Luginbill’s teams only finished .500 both of those years.

Hoke needs to get the Aztecs to .500 or better within three years, or the football team may fold when SDSU selects its next president after Stephen Weber retires in 2 ½ years. (Weber has made it clear the team will continue to exist on his watch.)

It took Hoke five years into his six-year tenure at Ball State to turn that team around.

He had four straight losing records before finally finishing above .500. Then this year’s team was a remarkable 12-1.

However, starting with four (or even three) consecutive losing seasons at SDSU could mean the end of Aztec football.

Under Weber’s watch, the athletics program keeps begging and borrowing from other campus entities, boosters, etc. to keep going. In a down economy, this can’t go on forever.

Brady Hoke basically has three years to get things going. Otherwise, don’t be surprised if Weber’s successor will be charged with the task of pulling the plug on Aztec football.

USD capable of pulling off NCAA upset

You know what?

The University of San Diego may have an upset in the making coming in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday vs. the University of Connecticut in Tampa, Fla.

Why?

These Toreros don’t seem to be intimidated on the big stage.

They went on the road in December and won at Kentucky, arguably one of the top four all-time national programs.

They won back-to-back games … albeit at home … against Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Tournament.

UConn will be a tall task in more ways than one. The Huskies feature All-Big East Defensive Player of the Year Hasheem Thabeet, a 7-foot-3 sophomore center who averaged 4.5 blocked shots a game this season.

Albeit the Huskies (24-8) have won 13 of their last 16 games, they’ve also lost three of six since a 10-game winning streak. And they were defeated by West Virginia, 78-72, in last week’s first round of the Big East Tournament.

USD (21-13) must try to offset Thabeet inside with 6-8 center Gyno Pomare, who has averaged 13.7 points and 7.4 rebounds.

As one might expect, the Toreros are a virtual unknown to UConn. Huskies coach Jim Calhoun mainly knows a little about Pomare.

“He's had some very good games. It's going to be an interesting battle, because we have a big guy, too,” Calhoun told the Connecticut media.

San Diego State? The Aztecs travel to Florida on Wednesday to play the two-time defending NCAA Champions in the NIT Tournament.

Say goodbye to the Aztecs!

USD is the real deal in San Diego college sports

Has the University of San Diego surpassed San Diego State in athletics, or what?

Now we have both the men’s and women’s basketball teams from USD as automatic qualifiers for their respective NCAA Tournaments.

Put that on top of the fact that USD hosted an NCAA Regional last year in baseball – at Tony Gwynn Stadium, no less, on the SDSU campus – and it tells you who has the real college sports program in San Diego.

Sure, the Toreros may have benefited from playing on their home court at Jenny Craig Pavilion in the West Coast Conference Tournament for both men and women.

So what? USD beat Gonzaga in each final … and the Toreros’ men and women are both in the NCAAs.

Try that for size, SDSU.

So what do the Aztecs have in basketball?

They have a men’s team ranked No. 4 and women’s squad ranked No. 6 going into this week’s Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.

The men have little chance of winning and advancing to the NCAAs … the women even have less of a chance than that.

And to think that people have considered USD the other school in local college sports for so long!

(Game) Time is not on San Diego State's Side

The Mountain West Conference, which includes San Diego State, just couldn’t wait to get away from the crummy starting times its athletic events were receiving on networks such as ESPN.

So the conference went ahead and joined partnership with CSTV and even has its own television station, so to speak, called the mtn.

So now, those inconvenient late morning and late evening starting times are gone … or are they?

Have you noticed that the San Diego State men’s basketball team hosts the Air Force Academy at 8 pm Wednesday to accommodate the mtn. TV broadcast?

So, what ever happened to those much better weeknight starting times of 7 pm when the Aztecs were being televised by Channel 4 San Diego?

Well, not only has this wonderful deal with the mtn. made for worse starting times; it has also taken away a large majority of local viewers.

If you are lucky (or unlucky) enough to even be able to watch the games on the mtn., consider yourself in a sizeable minority.

The mtn. was supposed to solve the problem of lousy starting times … plus increase exposure for the Mountain West Conference. Let’s face it: The TV “network” has done neither.

Oh, how we long for the day of the 7 pm start (especially on weeknights) on channels that local people could actually watch.

The Aztecs on TV with a decent starting time?

Wishful thinking.

Aztecs can't draw flies (or fans)

A local radio station recently went out to a restaurant/bar in Little Italy with 200 tickets to give away to a San Diego State football game.

It came back with 200 tickets.

Another radio station has a program where it gives listeners “points” in an Internet contest for such things as typing in the Word of the Day.

A $25 gift certificate to Jack in the Box or McDonald’s normally goes for 40,000-50,000 points. Four SDSU football tickets can usually be had for less than 1,000 points.

Does anybody care about SDSU football?

Apparently not, according to the radio station promotions and the number of empty seats at an Aztec home football game.

Athletic director Jeff Schemmel would have you believe that his department – and especially the football program – is able to carry its own financial weight.

If that’s so, then why does President Stephen Weber keep borrowing from a “one-time fund” to give millions to the athletic department?

The Aztecs conclude their season Saturday at home against No. 19 Brigham Young. Unless there are thousands of Mormons in the stands supporting BYU, expect another virtually empty stadium.

This week’s predictions:

BYU 38, Aztecs 20

Chargers 20, Kansas City 17

Local college basketball worth watching

College basketball isn’t going to be so bad in San Diego this season.

San Diego State has its most balanced team in years. The University of San Diego is only going to get better under the great coaching of first-year mentor Bill Grier, a former assistant at West Coast Conference powerhouse Gonzaga.

Both San Diego teams are young, which is another remedy for future improvement. The Aztecs have only one senior; USD has none.

Lorrenzo Wade leads an SDSU team that is 5-0 and is 8-9 players deep in able contributors.

The Toreros (2-2) do not have any seniors. Junior center Gyno Pomare has two straight double-double games against Nevada Las Vegas and SDSU.

USD hosts the WCC postseason tournament each of the next two seasons. Don’t be surprised if the Toreros win that tournament by next year.

Coach Steve Fisher has brought the Aztecs from horrible to mediocre during his tenure on Montezuma Mesa. His team is likely looking at another NIT-type season, which is about as high as Fisher appears capable of taking this team.

But in the long run, at least local college basketball fans shouldn’t be too disappointed this season.

Poinsettia Bowl: Aztecs out, Utah in?

Would you like to see San Diego State play in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl this year?

Keep dreaming.

First of all, the Aztecs (4-5) would have to win two of their final three games to become bowl eligible.

Where do you find two wins with games at Air Force (Nov. 17) and at home vs. Texas Christian University (Nov. 24) and Brigham Young (Dec. 1)?

Even if the Aztecs finish 6-6, the Poinsettia Bowl would have to choose a Mountain West Conference team with seven wins over SDSU.

The best that can be said for the Aztecs at this point is they’re on a two-game winning streak and have surpassed last year’s victory total of three.

“We’re excited to play,” SDSU coach Chuck Long said. “We have an upbeat practice tempo going. Guys are really starting to gel and really enjoy being around each other. We've had a great time with this team all year.”

But after nine years of the Mountain West Conference, they are still the conference’s only team never to appear in a bowl game during that time.

As for the Poinsettia Bowl, look for a match-up between Navy (6-4) and Utah (7-3). Navy has already accepted a bid to the game.

BYU (7-2) will win the Mountain West and go to the Las Vegas Bowl. That leaves Utah and New Mexico (7-3) as the leading contenders for the Poinsettia Bowl, but Utah has a much better “name” than the Lobos.

The Aztecs will be on the outside looking in, but what’s new?

This week’s prediction:

Air Force 27, SDSU 23

Aztecs trying to make friends

San Diego State is to be lauded for donating 4,000 tickets to firefighters, police, American Red Cross, military and others who protected San Diego County during last week’s fires.

The Aztecs are also selling field level tickets for $5 to this Saturday night’s home game against Wyoming.

All told, hopefully this means the Aztecs will have more than 20,000 people actually in the stands for the game.

As much as SDSU is reaching out to the community in some ways, it still isn’t winning football games. And that’s why people are not coming, no matter what the discount.

Chuck Long is just 5-14 in his first 1 ½ seasons on Montezuma Mesa. Since he’s in the second year of a five-year contract, SDSU isn’t going to buy him out anytime soon.

This team just isn’t making an impact in the community. The Aztecs haven’t had a winning season since 1998 … and it doesn’t appear one is on the horizon.

They will make some friends this weekend with the free and discounted tickets.

But to make friends in the long run, they will need to win more than once a month.

Prediction:

Wyoming 27, SDSU 17

Aztecs missed out on Tedford, Harbaugh

Jeff Tedford coaches the California Bears, ranked No. 2 in the nation by the Associated Press.

Jim Harbaugh is the first-year coach at Stanford, which pulled off arguably the Upset of the Year last weekend by beating then No. 2 USC, 24-23.

So, what do these two coaches have in common?

Among other things, both could (and should) have been named the head coach at San Diego State when their time had come.

Tedford’s time was before the 2002 season. SDSU tried to hurry the former Oregon assistant coach into a decision, causing him to withdraw from the process.

Harbaugh’s time was prior to the 2006 season.

After leading the University of San Diego to the first of two national titles for schools of its size, Harbaugh politicked for the SDSU job. The Aztecs didn’t even give him a sniff.

What do you think the Aztecs would be like now if Tedford or Harbaugh was the head coach?

It’s a question to ponder, because it will never become reality.

Instead, Chuck Long is 5-12 overall in his second season. He’ll take a 2-3 overall record (1-0 in the Mountain West Conference) into Saturday’s game at Utah.

Tedford? Harbaugh? Long?

You make the call as to which coach would have fit best at SDSU.

Prediction:

Utah 33, SDSU 21

San Diego sports: Abolish them all?

Think back to the rosy situation for San Diego sports last Friday night.

All the Padres had to do was beat the downtrodden Milwaukee Brewers one time to make the playoffs.

The Chargers were favored by more points than any NFL team Sunday, so they would certainly whip the Kansas City Chiefs.

OK, so now we’ve witnessed among the 72 worst hours in San Diego sports history.

The Padres couldn’t beat the Brewers … or hold a two-run lead with Trevor Hoffman on the mound against the Colorado Rockies.

The Chargers lost to the Chiefs … further proving it was Marty Schottenheimer’s coaching – not A.J. Smith’s players – who were responsible for last year’s 14-2 season.

With the Padres, you wouldn’t normally want anyone other than Jake Peavy or Hoffman on the mound. But they surrendered all of Colorado’s runs in Monday night’s season-ending, 9-8 loss in 13 innings.

Sadly, both now have storylines of being great pitchers the first 162 days of the season; but not much to brag about thereafter.

As for the Chargers, they continue to prove why Norv Turner has the reputation of a great offensive coordinator who couldn’t beat a high school JV team as a head coach.

And let’s not forget San Diego State. The Aztecs lost to No. 24 Cincinnati, 52-23, and looked as if they couldn’t tackle a mediocre Pop Warner running back.

Most of us are aware by now of a resolution in the SDSU Senate to abolish Aztec football.

For the sake of long-suffering San Diego fans, maybe they should abolish all sports in this town.

SDSU needs on-campus football facility

Let’s face it: The more the Chargers lose, the less chance they have of getting a new stadium because their bandwagon will fall apart if they don’t start winning.

Where does that leave San Diego State’s football program?

Without a place to play, if the Chargers don’t get a new stadium the Aztecs can share with them.

The solution for SDSU is to build an on-campus stadium, such as the Aztecs formerly had at Aztec Bowl.

San Diegans used to pack that place to watch SDSU succeed under the likes of the great Don Coryell as head coach.

A new campus stadium with about 30,000 seats would put the Aztecs on par with Mountain West Conference foes such as Colorado State and Wyoming. Both of those universities have such-sized stadiums within a long pass from campus.

The SDSU campus appears to have an area fit for a new stadium directly east of Cox Arena and north of Hardy Avenue. A couple of buildings would need to be relocated on campus, but I’m sure the theater department would also love to have a new building in the process.

There would be many advantages of playing on campus. Among them in the location we have mentioned is the fact that multitudes of students would be within walking distance of such a facility (and could certainly serve to help SDSU build a home field advantage it does not seem to have at Qualcomm Stadium.)

The former Aztec Bowl also served as a site for a high school football game of the week. A new stadium could serve as a central location for the high schools to play and could be an ideal locale for the Channel 4 San Diego telecasts on Friday night.

I’m sure the high school players would love to play at a college facility; not to mention the fact it would be a great recruiting tool for the Aztecs.

It’s never too early for SDSU officials to be planning the future. If the Chargers leave town, the Aztecs are going to be out in the cold in football … unless they come up with such a new stadium, preferably on campus.

This week’s prediction:

No. 24 Cincinnati 34, SDSU 17

Aztecs on the right path academically

As spring football practice continues at San Diego State, Chuck Long has the Aztecs on the right path … at least academically.
SDSU’s second-year head coach has spelled out a 4 ½-year plan for his players to apply both on the field and in the classroom.
Under the plan, the Aztecs expect players to graduate within 4 ½ years to keep the grass from growing between the time they finish football and graduate from college.
Here’s how it works: Say a freshman comes in with the current 2007 class. If he redshirts this season and plays the next four years, his SDSU football career concludes in December 2011. If he graduates in 4 ½ years, that also occurs in December 2011. Under this scenario, players won’t be tempted to leave school after their football career is done without graduating.
According to the most recent NCAA Graduation-Rate Report, SDSU student-athletes graduated at a rate of 81 percent. This percentage is higher than for the general student population.
SDSU was also recently recognized with the Diversity in Athletics Award for being one of the top athletics programs in the country for its graduation rate of African-American male student-athletes and Title IX compliance.
Chuck Long and his staff are definitely trying to keep the Aztecs on pace academically. Now if they can do something about last year’s 3-9 record and actually go to a bowl game, it would be another feather in SDSU’s cap.