San Diego State Aztecs


The San Diego State Aztecs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San Diego State University. The university fields 17 varsity teams in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I, primarily as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Aztecs football team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the highest level of NCAA football competition. The Aztecs nickname was chosen by students in 1925; team colors are scarlet and black. As of 2021, athletes from the university had won 14 medals at the Olympic Games.
Its primary conference is the Mountain West Conference; its women's rowing team competes in the American Athletic Conference, its women's water polo team participates in the Golden Coast Conference, and its men's soccer team is a single-sport member of the Pac-12 Conference. The ice hockey team competes in the ACHA with other western region club teams. The university colors are scarlet and black, SDSU's athletic teams are called the "Aztecs", and its mascot is the Aztec Warrior, formerly referred to as "Monty Montezuma".
As of 2021, athletes from the university have won 14 medals at the Olympic Games.

History

The first major sport on campus was rowing, but it initially had no coaches or tournaments. Other sports that developed early in the campus's history were tennis, basketball, golf, croquet, and baseball. Early on, the school's football program had such a limited selection of players that faculty had to be used to fill the roster. When the college merged with the junior college in 1921, the college became a member of the Junior College Conference. After the school won most of the conference titles in a variety of sports, the league requested that college leave out of fairness to the smaller schools. For its football program, the team outscored its opponents 249 to 52 in ten games, resulting in the first sales of season tickets in 1923. From 1925 to 1926, the college played as an independent. It then joined the Southern California Conference in 1926, where it did not win a football conference championship until 1936. However, in other sports including tennis and basketball, it excelled. The college remained with the conference until 1939, when it joined the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
The basketball team reached and won multiple championship games during the 1930–1940s, including a conference title in 1931, 1934, 1937, and 1939. It reached the national championship in 1939 and 1940, losing in the final rounds. However, in 1941 the college returned and won the college's first national title. In track, the team won conference titles in 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, and 1939. The football team won conference titles in 1936 and 1937, and the baseball team won three conference titles and placed second three times between 1935 and 1941.
In 1955, the Aztec Club was established and raised $20,000 a year by 1957. The club worked in increasing athletic scholarships, hiring better coaches, and developing the college's intercollegiate athletic programs. In 1956, students approved through a vote of allowing a mandatory student activity fee, with a portion going to athletics. By the end of the decade the budget had doubled to $40,000. The campus's most successful sports program during the 1950s was cross-country, when the team won eight straight conference titles and AAU regional titles and placed high in national competitions. Basketball teams ranged from last in the conference to multiple conference, regional, and national appearances. The football program had its first undefeated team in 1951, but in the last part of the decade earned the worst records in the school's football program under the direction of head coach Paul Governali.
Under Governali, the campus's football program suffered due to Governali's policy of not recruiting players. To improve the program, Love hired in 1961 Don Coryell, who led the program win three consecutive championships, and 104 wins, 19 losses, and 2 ties by the time he left SDSU. Coryell was assisted by John Madden, Joe Gibbs, and Rod Dowhower, among others. In Coryell's first year, attendance at home games averaged 8,000 people, but by 1966 it had doubled to 16,000. This later jumped to 26,000–41,000 per game with the addition of the new San Diego Stadium. At some games, attendance was larger than at San Diego Chargers games. There were several undefeated seasons and many players broke records for most catches, touchdowns, and passing yards. In 1969, San Diego State College moved into NCAA Division I, leaving the California Collegiate Athletic Association. In 1972, Coyrell left to pursue coaching in the NFL.
Basketball also did well, with the 1967–68 team being ranked the number one college-level team in the nation, although it did not win a national title. The Aztecs also won the 1960 CCAA baseball title and multiple national championships throughout the 1960s in track, cross country, and swimming.
By 1970–71, the campus had 14 NCAA sports. The 1973 men's volleyball team won the NCAA national championship which was the first NCAA national title since moving to Division I status.
SDSU competes in NCAA Division I. Its primary conference is the Mountain West Conference; its women's rowing team competes in the American Athletic Conference, its women's water polo team participates in the Golden Coast Conference, and its men's soccer team is a single-sport member of the Pac-12 Conference. The ice hockey team competes in the ACHA with other western region club teams. The university colors are scarlet and black, SDSU's athletic teams are called the "Aztecs", and its mascot is the Aztec Warrior, formerly referred to as "Monty Montezuma".

Sports sponsored

Men's varsity sports

Baseball

19792-2Lost in the Mideast Regional finals to Pepperdine.
19810–2Eliminated by Oral Roberts in the Midwest Regional.
19820–2Eliminated by Houston in the West II Regional.
19831–2Eliminated by UC Santa Barbara in the West I Regional semifinals.
19843–2Lost in the West I Regional finals to Cal State Fullerton.
19860–2Eliminated by Texas-Pan American in the Central Regional.
19903–2Lost in the West I Regional finals to Stanford.
19910–2Eliminated by Portland in the West II Regional.
20091–2Eliminated by UC Irvine in the Irvine Regional.
20130–2Eliminated by San Diego in the Los Angeles Regional.
20140–2Eliminated by Louisiana in the Lafayette Regional.
20151–2Eliminated by USC in the Charlottesville Regional.
20171–2Eliminated by Long Beach State in the Long Beach Regional.
20180–2Eliminated by Northwestern State in the Corvallis Regional.

Football

San Diego State University's football team is part of the highest level of American collegiate football, the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I. SDSU is 10–9 all time in post-season bowl games. They first went to a bowl game in 1948 and first won a major-college bowl game in 1969. Until the 2010 season, the Aztec football team had not won a bowl game in the past 37 years. In 2019, the Aztecs reached their 10th straight bowl game.
The Aztecs moved into the new Snapdragon Stadium, located in what had been the parking lot of the team's former home of San Diego Stadium, for the 2022 season. During the construction of Snapdragon Stadium, the Aztecs played the 2020 and 2021 seasons at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The team had played at San Diego Stadium from its opening in 1967 until its closure after the 2019 season; before that, it played in the on-campus Aztec Bowl.
January 1, 1948Bill SchutteHarbor BowlHardin–SimmonsL 0–53
January 1, 1952Bill SchuttePineapple BowlHawaiiW 34–13
December 10, 1966Don CoryellCamellia BowlMontana StateW 28–7
December 9, 1967Don CoryellCamellia BowlSan Francisco StateW 27–6
December 6, 1969Don CoryellPasadena BowlBoston UniversityW 28–7
December 30, 1986Denny StolzHoliday Bowl#16 IowaL 38–39
December 30, 1991Al LuginbillFreedom Bowl#23 TulsaL 17–28
December 19, 1998Ted TollnerLas Vegas BowlNorth CarolinaL 13–20
December 23, 2010Brady HokePoinsettia BowlNavyW 35–14
December 17, 2011Rocky LongNew Orleans BowlLouisianaL 30–32
December 20, 2012Rocky LongPoinsettia BowlBYUL 6–23
December 21, 2013Rocky LongFamous Idaho Potato BowlBuffaloW 49–24
December 23, 2014Rocky LongPoinsettia BowlNavyL 16–17
December 24, 2015Rocky LongHawaii BowlCincinnatiW 42–7
December 17, 2016Rocky LongLas Vegas BowlHoustonW 34–10
December 23, 2017Rocky LongArmed Forces BowlArmyL 35–42
December 19, 2018Rocky LongFrisco BowlOhioL 0–27
December 21, 2019Rocky LongNew Mexico BowlCentral MichiganW 48–11
December 21, 2021Brady HokeFrisco BowlUTSAW 38–24
December 24, 2022Brady HokeHawaii BowlMiddle TennesseeL 25–23