Dutcher: When people actually get to see it, they’ll try to see how close we are to UCLA

“We’re excited. We get to play somebody else.” said SDSU Head Coach Brian Dutcher this week in his address to the local media. “We’ve had a couple scrimmages. It’s been pretty physical. We’re getting beat up by each other and so we’re looking forward our exhibition with UCLA on Friday night.”

This coming Friday night San Diego State will welcome the Bruins of UCLA to Viejas Arena for a very unique “friendly” of sorts. Tip off is scheduled for 7:00pm. The matchup is only available for those who have purchased a ticket inside of the madhouse on the mesa as it will not be televised in any way.

The highly anticipated exhibition game won’t count into the upcoming season’s standings and is not included in the regular season ticket holders package either. Tickets are still available to the public after first being offered to season ticket holders to purchase however.

The two teams have played each other in previous closed door scrimmages before but this is different. The NIL generating event is the first of it’s kind to take place for both California programs and certainly not expected to be the last. A pretty cool concept for two Southern California programs that have big histories in the game of college basketball.

The Bruins are a blue blood historically with the most NCAA Championship banners (11) in college history. SDSU boasts the most recent success between the two and under Coach Dutcher hope to win their 1st banner in school history after appearing in the title game just three seasons ago.

The two have not played each other in an official capacity since 2020’s COVID season inside of an empty Viejas Arena. The Aztecs were victorious 73-58. Now with an expected large amount of spectators, they will get to add their presence to a matchup many SDSU fans have wanted to see in person for quite some time.

“It adds the element of extra emotion to me when the crowd’s into the game, you get into the game. And so as much as coaches we like to keep it business on the court, there is an emotional component to it when you play in front of fans. And so I’m sure coach Cronin’s excited to see how his team will respond in what will be a difficult environment. Whenever you come to Viejas, it’s difficult.” 

And though the opportunity exists for both program’s staff to evaluate their players and different situations, matchups, etc. it will also serve as kickstarter to get the fans in mid-season shape ready to cheer on their teams. Though there may only be one fanbase that really needs the actual warm-up refresher.

San Diego State is entering this 2025-2026 season as one the most anticipated teams in school history. There is no shortage of excitement for a team with so much charisma and so much promise.

Regardless of the advantage SDSU holds when it comes to turnouts at the turn styles over the years, they will certainly always be perceived as lesser than UCLA until a National Championship trophy is won. The Aztecs return 9 players from last season’s NCAA tournament team. With those returners holds the obvious bulk of scoring, defensive leadership, and experienced upperclassmen. But none of that matters to the National pundits who did not have SDSU in their top ranked list starting the 2025-2026 season.

“I mean, obviously, from a national perception, when people actually get to see it, they’ll try to see how close we are to a UCLA. I mean, we’ll be outside of the rankings probably to start the season, but people are excited about Aztec basketball. So, anytime you get to play a team that is perceived to be stronger than you are in a particular season, it’s good for you to measure yourself and let the nation kind of see what we’re about to start our season.”

And essentially that’s the truth right there. If the Aztecs perform well against the Bruins, it’s an instant shot in the arm full of confidence and good vibes. Struggle at home against the Bruins and the National pundit’s opinions on SDSU will feel justified.

“And with that being said, we’ll play everybody that’s available. We’ll play 11 bodies in this game. And even though we’ll play to win, we play every possession. You’re playing to win the possession. So, we’ll play to win the possession and win the game. But with that being said, we’ll play everybody on the roster to give them some minutes and see what they’re like in that type of situation.” 

So keep that in your minds Aztec Nation. The Aztecs will still have to use this game selfishly as a primer—together in hopes they will be at their best when the season actually begins November 4th vs Long Beach State.

In the grand scheme of things, perhaps this friendly can make the possibilities much warmer that we’ll see a true home & home series between two of the best programs on the West Coast for the future. Viejas fans will be sure to let the Bruins know about it come Friday night.

“That’s the beauty of playing a game like this in front of fans that not only do you see your team, but you get to see how they perform in an environment that we always have at Viejas.”