San Diego State going to bowl game in 2009?

After 10 straight non-winning seasons, could it be that the San Diego State football team is going to a bowl game in 2009?

(It won’t take a winning record, but the Aztecs could make their first postseason appearance since the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl this season.)

SDSU set itself up for such a scenario with last Saturday’s 42-28 upset win at Colorado State.

The Aztecs (3-4) should be favored to win three of their final five games. Win all three and their 6-6 record makes them “bowl eligible.”

SDSU is a 17-point favorite at home this weekend vs. winless New Mexico.

Then, after a likely home loss to Texas Christian University on Nov. 7, the Aztecs have what will likely be their game of the year at home vs. Wyoming on Nov. 14.

If the Aztecs beat New Mexico and Wyoming, then they would only need to win at Utah (not likely) on Nov. 21 or at Nevada Las Vegas (likely) on Nov. 28.

Amazing how far that new head coach Brady Hoke (may) have brought the Aztecs in one season.

Ryan Lindley has proven to be a standout QB as exemplified by his six touchdown passes vs. Colorado State. DeMarco Sampson had the game of his life with 15 receptions for 257 yards and three TDs.

The only drawback is that the team’s leading receiver, Vincent Brown, has ligament damage in his right thumb that could keep him sidelined for an undetermined amount of time.

Get this: CBSSports.com is projecting that the Aztecs will meet Fresno State this season in the New Mexico Bowl.

Wishful thinking? Maybe. But at least it’s a step in the right direction for a university that hasn’t played in a bowl game in the 21st century.

Hoke will soon discover few care about San Diego State football

Brady Hoke apparently doesn’t quite seem to know the circumstances.

The new San Diego State football coach can close practice to the media all he wants ... nobody cares.

But when it comes to closing Saturday’s practice at Qualcomm Stadium to the public, maybe somebody does care.

Hoke may not realize that few people care about SDSU football in the first place. Closing all practices to the public is no way to reach out to a "fan base" already turned off by SDSU football’s 10 straight non-winning seasons..

This isn’t Ball State, where Hoke led his former team to a No. 12 national ranking at one point last season. This is San Diego State, which can’t even beat San Jose State or Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Hoke may be fooled when the Aztecs draw over 50,000 fans for their home opener Sept. 12 vs. Southern Utah. That will be due to the annual KGB Sky Show; not the Aztecs.

When Hoke comes home to a virtually empty stadium his remaining five home games, it might just remind him of the empty stadium the Aztecs will practice at this Saturday.

Too bad for him.

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.