The answers: UCLA and USD, Long Beach State, Fresno State, and high.

The questions: Who will San Diego State’s basketball team play in preseason exhibitions? Who is the opener against? Which road trip do they skip in the unbalanced Mountain West schedule? And what is the level of difficulty?

In past seasons, the nonconference and conference schedules have been released separately, sometimes months apart. SDSU opted to release it all at once this year, leaving all 32 games – two exhibitions, 10 nonconference, 20 conference – to be digested in a single sitting.

Coach Brian Dutcher has historically built a schedule around his personal expectations for the team: If he thinks they’re gonna be good, he’ll challenge them early and often.

And he has, with three games in the Players Only Festival, the premier nonconference event for college basketball in just its second year – 18 of the nation’s best programs over Thanksgiving week in Las Vegas. The Aztecs open against Michigan and Oregon, then get a third opponent from the loaded field based on those results.

There’s also a neutral court game against Arizona at Phoenix’s PHX Arena (formerly Footprint Center) on Dec. 20. And instead of easing into the season with a closed-door scrimmage and a non-Division I exhibition, the Aztecs will host UCLA on Oct. 17 and NIL-infused USD on Oct. 29 at Viejas Arena before the Nov. 4 opener against Long Beach State.

A 20-game Mountain West schedule means teams must play a game before Christmas, and the Aztecs host Air Force on Dec. 17. The schedule resumes Dec. 30 at San Jose State and concludes March 7 at home against UNLV.

The nonconference dates are finalized. The conference dates are not and could move a day in either direction at the behest of Mountain West television partners CBS and Fox. That likely won’t be known until early next month.

The idea behind moving to 20 conference games last season was to play a full schedule, where everybody in the 11-team Mountain West faced each other home and away. With the addition of Grand Canyon a year early, however, we’re back to an unbalanced schedule, where you skip one opponent at home and one away.

For the Aztecs, that’s San Jose State at home and Fresno State away. The preference is always to skip Wyoming away, given the 7,220 feet of elevation and the remote locale forcing SDSU to expend two of its typically four allotted charter legs each season. Fresno State usually requires one charter leg.

Other notables on the schedule release:

–This will be just the second time in the past 27 years that the Aztecs have not played a local Div. I school in the regular season, regularly facing USD through the late 1990s and 2000s, then UCSD after it transitioned to Div. I in 2021. The consolation is playing the Toreros in an exhibition.

–The six nonconference home games announced Monday are all “buy” games, where SDSU pays a fee approaching $100,000 to play a one-off game at Viejas Arena with no return. Five are Div. I programs: Long Beach State, Idaho State, Troy, Utah Valley and Lamar. The sixth is Div. III Whittier on Dec. 22.

–The first two home games in January, against Boise State and New Mexico, are both on Saturdays. Expect them to be flexed to big-boy CBS or Fox with late morning or early afternoon tips ahead of NFL playoff games.

–The addition of Grand Canyon for 2025-26 came after the Aztecs had already scheduled the Dec. 20 game against Arizona in Phoenix, meaning they will now go to the Valley of the Sun twice in a month. The game at Grand Canyon, where the Aztecs are 0-2, is Jan. 20.

–The early part of the conference schedule, on paper at least, is easier than the last part. The Aztecs get Boise State, New Mexico and Colorado State at Viejas Arena in January, then play all three on the road over a four-game stretch in late February and early March.

–The Aztecs staff will be keeping a close eye on a pair of late road games when the Mountain West announces which dates are moved to accommodate TV. Currently, they are at New Mexico on Feb. 28 and at Boise State on March 3, just three days apart – potentially requiring them to fly from Albuquerque straight to Boise instead of returning home between road games, their preference.

–The bye lands on Feb. 10, a midweek date.

Nonconference schedule

Oct. 17: UCLA (exhibition)

Oct. 29: USD (exhibition)

Nov. 4: Long Beach State

Nov. 9: Idaho State

Nov. 18: Troy

Nov. 24: Michigan (in Las Vegas)

Nov. 25: Oregon (in Las Vegas)

Nov. 26 or 27: Players Only Festival (in Las Vegas)

Dec. 3: Utah Valley

Dec. 10: Lamar

Dec. 20: Arizona (in Phoenix)

Dec. 22: Whittier College

Mountain West schedule

Dec. 17: Air Force

Dec. 30: at San Jose State

Jan. 3: Boise State

Jan. 6: at Nevada

Jan. 10: Fresno State

Jan. 13: at Wyoming

Jan. 17: New Mexico

Jan. 20: at Grand Canyon

Jan. 24: at UNLV

Jan. 27: Colorado State

Jan. 31: at Utah State

Feb. 3: Wyoming

Feb. 7: at Air Force

Feb. 14: Nevada

Feb. 17: Grand Canyon

Feb. 21: at Colorado State

Feb. 24: Utah State

Feb. 28: at New Mexico

March 3: at Boise State

March 7: UNLV

March 11-14: Mountain West tournament, Las Vegas