SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — As the 19th-ranked San Diego State men's basketball team opens its season Monday night against Cal State Fullerton, rumors are once again swirling about a potential move from the Mountain West Conference to the Pac-12.
Talk quickly began Monday morning when national sports talk show host Dan Patrick reported on his radio show that a source had told him an announcement about the move would be made by the end of this week. By afternoon, multiple reporters from other outlets refuted that claim, stating that any move on conference expansion would not be made until after the University of California leaders meet to discuss the announced intentions of UCLA and USC to move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten, along with the completion of the Pac-12's new television contract.
The flurry of stories once again highlight San Diego State as a possible target for power five conferences that are worried about losing members. San Diego Sports 760 host Jon Schaeffer, who works on Aztecs radio broadcasts but is not privvy to inside details of any ongoing negotiations, says SDSU has clearly been positioning itself for a potential move. “For a university that has invested the way they have in athletics, I think clearly their intentions are to compete at the very highest level. And in order to compete year in and year out at the highest level, in all likelihood, you need to be in a power five league.”
A move to the Pac-12 would allow San Diego State to regularly play against the top echelon of college sports programs, as well as give them access to more prestigious bowl games in football and a clearer pathway to compete for a national championship. “Revenues change. Exposure changes. Potentially even the profile of the university can change by getting to that level, as well," Schaeffer said.
ABC 10News reached out to a spokesperson for the SDSU athletics department. He declined to comment.
