If you live in San Diego, California, an outdoor college basketball game is coming to you later this year. According to Mark Ziegler of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the University of San Diego and San Diego State will play their annual game at Petco Park in early December as they came to an agreement on a one-year contract.
This is a great idea because if you remember early season college basketball games were played on aircraft carriers but there were a couple of issues such as wind and condensation.
With this game being played at Petco Park, this will definitely help the University of San Diego in terms of attendance as they have had a hard time selling out tickets at Jenny Craig Pavilion, which holds on 5,100 seats.
Also from Ziegler’s report, the original idea of this game came from SDSU athletic director Jim Sterk, who was hoping to land a high-profile opponent.
But Ron Fowler chairs the Padres’ ownership group and also is USD’s most prominent athletic booster, and apparently he agreed to let the Aztecs to play in his ballpark under one condition: that it’s against the Toreros.
The teams have played annually since 1998, but a four-year contract expired after this season and there were growing murmurs that it wouldn’t be renewed, particularly in alternating home arenas. The programs have gone in opposite directions – the Aztecs to the Top 25, the Toreros to seven straight losing seasons against Division I competition – and the yawning disparity in fortunes created a nothing-to-win prospect for the Aztecs, who have won nine straight in the series.
Hopefully, this game will renew the spirit within USD basketball program as they have a new head coach in former New Mexico assistant Lamont Smith. USD has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2008, where they defeated University of Connecticut 70-69 in the first round.