San Diego State starts a new era Saturday night, when it plays its first Pac-12 Conference game against Texas State at Snapdragon Stadium.
The journey to the Pac-12 dates back decades, with aspirations of joining the old Pacific conference virtually coinciding with the school’s move to Division I nearly 60 years ago. It wasn’t to be back then.
Or then.
Or then.
SDSU has played in three different conferences during its Division I history. Here is a look at its debut in each instance.
PCAA (1969)
SDSU’s moved into the Pacific Coast Athletic Association in 1969, when it moved up to Division I athletics.
It couldn’t have gone any better.
The Aztecs posted their second 11-0 season, including a 6-0 record for the PCAA championship, and capped the year with a 28-7 win over Boston University in the Pasadena Bowl.
SDSU opened the season with a 49-0 home victory over Los Angeles State in its PCAA debut. It was the first of seven games In which the Aztecs scored at least 40 points (SDSU led the nation with 46.4 points a game). Even more impressive than the seven touchdowns in that first game was the Aztecs’ defense limiting Los Angeles State to minus-44 rushing yards.
Their closest game was a 24-14 victory at West Texas State. The biggest blowout was a 70-21 home win over New Mexico State that included an NCAA-record nine touchdown passes by quarterback Dennis Shaw.
For the season, Shaw passed for an NCAA-leading 3,185 yards and 39 touchdowns. Tight end Tim Delaney (85 catches, 1,259 yards, 14 TDs) was Shaw’s top target, along with wide receivers Tom Reynolds (50-885, 18 TDs), Byron Olander (38-709, 5 TDs) and Ken Burrow (24-454, 3 TDs).
The Aztecs balanced the offense with the rushing of George Brown (558 yards, 5 TDs) and Del Piper (431 yards, 3 TDs).
Shaw was sidelined with a back injury in the second half of the Pasadena Bowl and it was backup Brian Sipe who brought home the victory to complete the undefeated season.
“Eleven and O,” SDSU linebacker Carl Weathers shouted after the game. “Let the world know it.”
The Aztecs went undefeated in four or seven seasons in the PCAA and quickly set their sights on bigger things.
PCAA-era record (1969-75): 61-14 overall; 27-6 conference (5 titles).
WAC (1978)
SDSU left the PCAA following the 1975 season and spent two years as an independent before moving into the Western Athletic Conference, which included Brigham Young, Colorado State, New Mexico, Texas-El Paso, Utah and Wyoming.
Spirits were high coming off 10-0-1 and 10-1 seasons as an independent. The Aztecs’ 1978 debut in the WAC coincided with the creation of the Holiday Bowl. SDSU fans naturally assumed the Aztecs would be staying home for the Holiday on a regular basis since the WAC champion received an automatic berth in the game.
The best laid plans …
SDSU lost 14-13 at Iowa State to open the season, outplaying the No. 9-ranked Cyclones everywhere but on the scoreboard. So spirits were still high the following week when the Aztecs played UTEP in their WAC opener on a rainy night in El Paso.
The game was tied 24-24 with less than a minute remaining when disaster struck for the Aztecs. SDSU’s Greg Roesszler stood in his own end zone waiting to punt, but a bad snap had the ball bouncing loose. A Cyclones player fell on it for a touchdown and a 31-24 victory.
SDSU’s only conference wins came against Colorado State (34-31) and New Mexico (27-24). The Aztecs barely held on to beat the Rams, blowing a 17-point lead with 10 minutes remaining. They used two turnovers to upset a New Mexico team favored by nearly two touchdowns.
“I feel like we just won the Super Bowl,” SDSU coach Claude Gilbert said beating the Lobos.
BYU went to the first seven Holiday Bowls as the WAC champion. The Aztecs made it once, losing 39-38 to No. 16 Iowa on a last-second field goal.
WAC-era record (1978-98): 119-120 overall; 90-70 conference (1 title).
Mountain West (1999)
The WAC grew to 16 teams by the mid-1990s. SDSU was among the schools that didn’t like the expanded travel and financial costs that came with it. So the Aztecs joined seven other schools — Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, UNLV, Utah and Wyoming — to form the Mountain West.
SDSU began that season with an ambitious nonconference schedule, bookending victories over South Florida (41-12) and Kansas (41-13) with losses to Illinois (38-10) and No. 17 USC (24-21).
That was supposed to prepare SDSU for its Mountain West debut, but the Aztecs instead suffered close home losses to Air Force (23-22) and New Mexico (24-21).
The Air Force loss was particularly frustrating, with the Falcons’ option offense gouging the Aztecs for 309 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
SDSU finally enjoyed conference success with a 17-10 win at Colorado State. The game was played in a blizzard. Damon Gourdine’s 40-yard fourth-quarter touchdown catch made the difference.
The Aztecs closed out the season with victories over UNLV (37-7) and Wyoming (39-7), but it wasn’t enough for a winning season. They finished 5-6 overall and 3-4 in the Mountain West. SDSU didn’t have a winning overall record their first 11 years in the MW. They were above .500 in conference play just once during that span, going 4-3 in 2002.
BYU and Utah and, later, TCU, dominated the conference in its first decade. SDSU didn’t sniff a title before sharing the 2012 championship after the others left the conference. The Aztecs won back-to-back titles during the 2015-16 seasons.
The 2016 SDSU team is being honored during Saturday night’s game against Texas State.
MW era record (1999-2025): 173-161 overall; 112-94 conference (three titles).