As a new feature this season, Sons of Montezuma offers this quick Red & Black Report. Think of it as a bit like an accounting ledger – RED are areas to address and BLACK are those areas contributing positively to the bottom line.
In this case, black means areas that help win football games. Let’s start with red.
Red: Conference Realignment
Cue the music, the conference realignment carousel has started once again.
Someone make it stop.
I want to get off.
The Aztecs are coming off a bye week, bookend by two road games. This Saturday’s contest will be played in the middle of America—in a land called Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Pleasant is a far cry from what’s going on in college football over 2,300 miles away in San Diego.
That collective groan you hear is Aztecs fans disbelief. Not disbelief in how expensive the stadium ticket prices are, or the removal of our mascot, or even from another penalty flag thrown on the field. This disbelief is in how San Diego State—once again—will fall short of playing in a “major” conference for the foreseeable future.
The excitement of joining the Pac-12ish just a few short weeks ago has given way to the reality that, the allure of speculated television riches does not hold the same appeal for all schools searching for relevancy in a lopsided marketplace.
Losing out on adding not just one, but all four—Memphis, Tulane, University of South Florida, and even UT San Antonio for all sports—meant having to search for yet another two schools to join the revamped conference.
But did it have to be the Mountain West’s version of Diet BYU—Utah State?
It’s been awhile since I looked, but I’m pretty sure Logan, Utah is not among the largest television markets in all of college football.
Sigh.
And the disappointments just keep on coming. On Thursday, the UNLV athletics department announced its decision to remain with the MWC. And, another potential Pac-12ish member goes off the board.
Say what you want about the Thomas & Mack serving as Viejas East for the men’s hoops team every year, but UNLV fields a rising football team, an annually competitive men’s basketball squad, and one of the best cities to spend a weekend getaway.
And they’re sticking with the Mountain West!?!
Ugh.
As of now, the Pac12ish is the Pac-7, needing to add at least one more school to be seen as a full-fledged conference by the NCAA. It is unclear whether they will continue to woo these same teams and try to get them to flip on their public statements of loyalty or set their scope on other teams from likely smaller conferences.
Though it’s true SDSU in the current PAC-12 is in a better football conference than the Mountain West, until they are officially recognized with 8 teams and a media deal in place, this uncertainty couldn’t have been part of the plan.
There will be no brass ring at the end of this ride for the Aztec faithful no matter how far we reach for one.
Black: BIG Opportunity this Saturday
A return to actually playing football rather than talking about what conference the team will be playing in two years from now, is a welcome bit of normalcy.
Coming off a bye week, SDSU heads out on the road to face the Chippewas of Central Michigan. The Mid-American Conference member sits at 2-2 on the young season. SDSU holds an 16-1-1 record against members of the Mid-American Conference, including a 20-13 win over Ohio last August, and a 48-11 beating over Central Michigan in the 2019 New Mexico Bowl.
Opportunity is there to capture a win and some momentum heading into conference games against Hawaii and Wyoming. But Aztec head man Sean Lewis knows the game in Mount Pleasant, Michigan will be a tough contest.
“They’ve won six out of their last seven at home,” Lewis said in his weekly presser. “They know how to protect their home turf and found a way to win this past week. They’re a dangerous team that can do it both through the air and on the ground, so we have to do a great job on our end preparing to go win and handling our day-to-day process the right way.”
For Lewis, in order to emerge victorious will be to have his guys play fundamentally sound football. That means the Aztecs defense will set the edge, maintain leverage, and rally to the ball as a team.
Win this game on the road and more winnable games await on the schedule—even for a young team still searching for offensive consistency and a disciplined approach to penalties and mistakes.
The Aztecs and Central Michigan game will be played Saturday, September 28 at 12:30 p.m. PST. Television coverage will be provided by CBS Sports Network with San Diego Sports 760 airing the radio broadcast.
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