There have been numerous signature wins that have served as masonry for the construction of San Diego State’s nationally relevant basketball program – UCLA, Arizona, Kansas – but the cornerstone, the night when the Aztecs planted their flag on the national map, might be Nov. 16, 2010, in Spokane, Wash.

SDSU 79, No. 11 Gonzaga 76.

So it is with a glint toward history that Steve Fisher and his Aztecs return to Gonzaga’s fearsome Kennel next season on Monday, Nov. 14, a date confirmed by several sources close to the program. A formal announcement is expected later this week.

The difference is six years ago, an Aztecs program that had never been ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 before that season didn’t have the juice to demand a return game from the Bulldogs. This time it does, with the home-and-home series concluding at Viejas Arena the following season on Dec. 21, 2017.


Win in the Kennel, where the Bulldogs were 77-4 at the raucous McCarthey Athletic Center before SDSU rolled into town, and things change.

In many ways, it’s a marriage of convenience and necessity. Both SDSU and Gonzaga play in mid-major conferences that suffered the ignominy of being one-bid leagues in the NCAA Tournament last season. That means fewer chances for resume-building victories so imperative to catch the eye of the selection committee, which means you have to load up in the nonconference.

And the Aztecs are loading up. Already, they have games against Arizona State at Viejas – reportedly on Dec. 10 – and at WAC champion Grand Canyon three days earlier, plus three in a Diamond Head Classic tournament over Christmas that features NCAA Tournament teams Utah, Tulsa, Stephen F. Austin and host Hawaii.

There are also murmurs of adding yet another game against a marquee West Coast opponent, likely at a neutral site.


It makes for a hectic November and December, with trips to Spokane (1,036 miles), Loyola-Chicago (1,743 miles) as part of the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge and Honolulu (2,611 miles) all within six weeks. That’s followed by a Mountain West schedule of nine separate road trips that all require air travel, many of them into altitude in the dead of winter.

Few college basketball teams will log more miles in the regular season.

The Nov. 14 date for Gonzaga likely makes it the second game of the season. That also puts it in the window of ESPN’s College Hoops Tip-off Marathon, which SDSU has played in five times in the last seven seasons – Utah twice, Baylor, Saint Mary’s and the historic game at Gonzaga in 2010.

Sophomore Kawhi Leonard (you might have heard of him) had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and senior Billy White has a career night: 30 points on 14-of-18 shooting. It was the program’s first road win against a ranked opponent in 32 years and 33 games.


“It’s just a glimpse of how good we are, how far we’ve come,” point guard D.J. Gay said that night in Spokane. “The upside for us is endless. We’re going to be as good as we want to be.”

Football mini-plans

Three-game tickets plans for SDSU football are on sale for $60. The three games: New Hampshire (Sept. 3), Cal (Sept. 10) and Hawaii (Nov. 5). Seating is in the west end zone and loge sections. They can be purchased at GoAztecs.com, by calling (619) 283-7378 or at the Qualcomm ticket office at Window E.