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The San Diego St. Aztecs start their 2013-14 fall basketball season with a exhibition against Cal State San Marcos at the old SDSU North County campus when I was in school and Michael Cage lead the Aztecs to an NCAA tournament bid. But I digress; the Aztecs bring a 33-game win streak against California schools, which is the longest in the nation.
Upon review of the Aztecs in-state non-conference schedule, I really can't see that win streak coming to an end this year. Its not very difficult. However, two years ago we all thought that the Aztecs would be playing in the Big West so Steve Fisher went out and secured high profile games against Arizona, Kansas and Washington to preserve SDSU's RPI. In fact the Big West was hoping to have the Aztecs play in the Big West to elevate the conference's national profile. But that is ancient history.
This year there are four non-conference and four conference games against in-state California rivals and I use that term loosely. The Aztecs should continue this win streak to 41 games by the end of the year. Here are the California schools that will continue the streak.
1. UC Riverside - 11/8 at Viejas. Aztecs are 9-0 against UCR.
2. San Diego Christian College - 11/20 at Viejas. This is the 4th season and SDCC hasn't come close to compete.
3. University of San Diego - 12/5 at the school on the hill. The Aztec lead the series 27-17, and the USD team could give the Aztecs a run for the money.
4. St Katherine's College - 12/27 at Viejas. This is the inaugural meeting of the Aztecs versus the Firebirds, need I say more.
5. Fresno State - 1/15 at Viejas. The Aztecs have beaten FSU the last six straight at home.
6. San Jose State - 1/22 in San Jose. SJSU is rebuilding, the Aztecs should walk over a team of JC transfers, walk-ons and bench players. It will be the first meeting in San Jose since 1999.
7. San Jose State - 2/25 at Viejas, Aztecs are 22-9 at home against SJSU and we have the SHOW.
8. Fresno State - 3/1 in Fresno. This could be a tough match for the Aztecs with the Bulldogs home court advantage.
This will be the first year in a while that the Aztecs will not play UCLA, USC, UCSB or Long Beach State. Steve Fisher probably thought they would be playing them in Big West matches.
Even with a soft in-state schedule the Aztecs play at least 4 top 25 schools in non-conference and then has to go through a brutal MWC schedule and tournament to get their fifth straight NCAA bid and another 20+ win season.