Ranking every San Diego State basketball non-conference game from toughest to easiest

Brian Dutcher’steam will play a challenging non-conference schedule before beginning their historic first season in the reborn Pac-12 Conference.

The good news is, the San Diego State Aztecs will have to leave California only once before league play begins, and that will be the short hop to Las Vegas for at least three games in the Players Era Festival.

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Other than that, the Aztecs will play nine times in Viejas Arena – including exhibitions against USC on Oct. 23 and Long Beach State on Oct. 28.

Other games in Southern California will be their one true road game, a rare trip to UCLA, and three neutral-site games: against former league rival BYU in Palm Desert; against Colorado in the inaugural Bill Walton Classic at Pechanga Arena, which is one of SDSU’s former home courts; and against New Mexico State at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside in northern San Diego County.

“I’ve always been a regional guy. If I can play really good teams regionally, that’s what I want to do,” Dutcher said. “The farthest we go in the nonconference is Las Vegas. We don’t travel multiple time zones. We’re either in the state or in a neighboring state. I like that model.”

Perhaps the biggest test will be their first of three exhibition games, at Final Four participant Arizona on Oct. 16.

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Here are San Diego State’s hardest non-conference games, ranked from hardest to easiest.

1. UCLA – Dec. 29 (Away)

The Aztecs will face teams that are ranked higher in the various “Way Too Early Top 25” polls, but history is definitely against the Aztecs in this one. The Bruins agreed to a home-and-home series that begins this season at iconic Pauley Pavilion in the penultimate game before the Aztecs launch their Pac-12 schedule.

While recent history favors the Aztecs – they beat the Bruins in the home opener in 2020-21 when fans weren’t allowed due to the pandemic, and in 2012 in the John Wooden Classic in Anaheim. But they’re 0-10 in Los Angeles and haven’t played at Pauley Pavilion since…

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Publish date : 2026-09-25 19:45:00

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